Transportation system

ABSTRACT

A system includes at least partially autonomous vehicles, at least partially separated interconnected roadways, and a management system. Each of the vehicles is configured to cooperate with another vehicle or an area controller. The management system is configured to receive requests to transport, which may have respective start points and respective destinations. Additionally, the management system is configured, responsive to receiving the request, to assign a vehicle to fulfill the request. The assigned vehicle is configured to transport a person from the respective start point, at least in part via the interconnected roadways, to the respective destination.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority to and the benefit as a non-provisionalapplication of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/465,088,entitled “Transportation System”, filed Feb. 28, 2017, and U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/517,607, entitled “AutonomousVehicle System Employing Time Domain Dynamic Buffers When MatchingPassengers and Vehicles”, filed Jun. 9, 2017, the entire contents ofeach which are hereby incorporated by reference and relied upon.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is generally directed to a transportation systemand associated methods of operation, and more particularly to a systememploying individually routed vehicles sharing an at least partiallygrade separated roadway.

BACKGROUND

Autonomous vehicles, such as personalized autonomous automobiles areadvancing rapidly. However, in highly congested urban areas suchvehicles may make at most limited improvements in transportation becauseof the overall congestion, particularly when there are highly congestedchokepoints such as bridges, tunnels, and areas with extremely highcongestion and large numbers of people arriving or departing at similartimes in a small geographic area, such as rush hour in busy businessdistrict, sporting or entertainment events, etc. Conventional masstransit systems such as commuter rail and subway systems provide highcapacity on planned routes but have extremely high infrastructure costs,and provide limited flexibility. Light rail and similar systems providea solution for some contexts, but may not have high enough capacity toaddress demand in extremely congested areas. Accordingly, Applicantshave identified a need for an urban mass transportation solution thatcombines advantages of these different types of systems, whileameliorating their disadvantages. Some example systems described in thecurrent disclosure addresses the unmet demand of cities for flexiblehigh density transit with a minimal invasive footprint and at anaffordable cost.

SUMMARY

In one example, a system includes one or more at least partiallyautonomous vehicles, one or more at least partially separatedinterconnected roadways, and a management system. Each of the one ormore at least partially autonomous vehicles is configured to cooperatewith at least one of another vehicle and an area controller. Themanagement system is configured to receive requests to transport, whichmay have respective start points and respective destinations.Additionally, the management system is configured, responsive toreceiving the request, to assign one of the autonomous vehicles tofulfill the request and inform the assigned autonomous vehicle of anassignment. The assigned autonomous vehicle is configured to transport,responsive to the assignment, at least one person from the respectivestart point, at least in part via the one or more at least partiallyseparated interconnected roadways, to the respective destination.

In another example, the one or more partially separated interconnectedroadways include a dedicated grade separated roadway.

In another example, the system further includes at least two nearbycooperative vehicles. The assigned autonomous vehicle is configured tocooperate with nearby cooperative vehicles. The at least two nearbyvehicles are configured to cooperate. Additionally, operation of atleast one of the at least two cooperating vehicles may be altered inorder to change at least one of a separation between the at least twocooperating vehicles, vehicle velocity, and vehicle headway in responseto an information set received by the assigned autonomous vehicle.

In another example, the assigned autonomous vehicle is configured toreceive the information set from a management system.

In another example, the assigned autonomous vehicle is configured toreceive the information set from another vehicle.

In another example, the information set may include traffic flow, triptime, system capacity, wait time, or a combination thereof.

In another example, the assigned autonomous vehicle is configured toadjust at least one of vehicle velocity and vehicle headway in responseto receiving an information set from one of the management system oranother vehicle.

In another example, based at least in part on the requests to transportreceived, the management system is further configured to adjust at leastone of an operating status of the one or more at least partiallyautonomous vehicles, a quantity of vehicles on the one or more roadwaysand a quantity of passengers at a boarding zone.

In another example, the one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles is configured so a set of vehicles traveling at the same timealong a common sub-route cooperate as cooperating vehicles, and at leastone of the cooperating vehicles in the set operates in response totraffic flow information, received by at least one of the cooperatingvehicles, while traveling on the sub-route.

In another example, at least a subset of the interconnected roadwayshave sufficient width to allow multiple vehicles to travel in parallelin the same direction. Additionally, at least some of the set ofvehicles are configured to travel in parallel at approximately the samecruising velocity on the subset of the interconnected roadway.

In another example, the set of vehicles, traveling at the same timealong a common sub-route, are configured to travel in a shoal havingreduced space separations between the vehicles.

In another example, each of vehicles in the shoal is configured toadjust space separations between the vehicles in the shoal to createadditional space in a trunk line for another vehicle to join the trunkline.

In another example, the set of vehicles, traveling at the same timealong a common sub-route, are configured to travel in a first shoal anda second shoal, one or more vehicles in the first shoal are configuredto adjust space separations between one or more of the vehicles in thesecond shoal to create additional space in a trunk line for anothervehicle to join the trunk line.

In another example, responsive to receiving the request, the managementsystem is configured to provide to the assigned vehicle, at least oneapproximate target route, from the respective start point to therespective destination. Additionally, the assigned vehicle is configuredto select, by default, one of the at least one approximate target routesand is further configured to travel along the selected approximatetarget route from the start point to the destination.

In another example, the at least one approximate target route includesat least one of start, merge, cruise, demerge, and stop segments, andthe management system is configured to provide at least one of a vehicleprofile, parameters, and properties to the assigned vehicle for the atleast one segment.

In another example, the management system includes a plurality of areacontrollers each having an assigned and/or associated geographic area ofthe system. Additionally, a first one of the plurality of the areacontrollers may be configured to sense a road condition and relayinformation corresponding to the road condition to a vehicle travelingin the first area controller's respectively assigned and/or associatedgeographic area.

In another example, a first area controller of the plurality of areacontrollers is configured to relay information corresponding to the roadcondition to at least one other area controller.

In another example, at least two of the respective assigned and/orassociated geographic areas overlap.

In another example, the vehicles are configured to maintain continuousflow on the roadways based at least in part on the information relayedfrom the at least one of the plurality of the area controllers.

In another example, at least some of the area controllers are configuredto provide control targets to the vehicles to coordinate a continuousflow of vehicles into and out of an inter vehicle gap in the continuousflow.

In another example, one or more of the roadways is marked with machinereadable information associated with the roadway. Additionally, thevehicles may include at least one sensor that is configured to read theinformation, and the vehicles may be configured to make an autonomousdecision, based at least in part on information from the at least onesensor.

In another example, assigning one of the autonomous vehicles to fulfilthe request is at least partially based on minimizing a wait time of apassenger at the start point associated with the request to transport.

In another example, a vehicle is configured to receive an approximatetarget route from the management system, and the vehicle is configuredto determine an actual route at least partially based on the approximatetarget route associated with the request to transport.

In another example, the management system is configured to assign one ofthe autonomous vehicles to fulfil the request based at least partiallyon at least one of a vehicle attribute and a passenger attribute.

In another example, a vehicle has an interior width and an exteriorwidth, the interior width is at least as wide as a wheelchair, and theexterior width is at most as wide as one half of a standard road lane.

In another example, the one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles is configured to travel with a following distance of less thantwo seconds between the vehicles.

In another example, the system further includes a reservation systemconfigured to receive the requests to transport from at least one userand send the requests to transport to the management system.Additionally, the requests may include payload information.

In another example, the assigned autonomous vehicle is configured totransport a payload from the respective start point, at least in partvia the one or more separated roadways, to the respective destination.Additionally, the payload may be either a passenger or cargo.

In another example, the one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles is configured to sense a road condition and relay informationcorresponding to the road condition to a second vehicle and/or one ormore management systems.

In another example, informing the assigned autonomous vehicle of theassignment includes providing an information set to the assignedautonomous vehicle.

In a second example, a method includes receiving, by a managementsystem, a request to transport from a user. Additionally, the methodincludes assigning, by the management system, an at least partiallyautonomous vehicle from one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles to fulfil the request. Each of the one or more at leastpartially autonomous vehicles may configured to cooperate with one ofanother vehicle and an area controller. The management system alsoinforms the assigned vehicle of the assignment, and provides aninformation set to the assigned vehicle related to the request. Theassigned vehicle may operate on one or more at least partially separatedinterconnected roadways according to the information set.

In another example, the assigned vehicle cooperates with nearbycooperative vehicles. Operation of at least one of the at least twocooperating vehicles may be altered in order to change a separationbetween the at least two cooperating vehicles, vehicle velocity, vehicleheadway, or a combination thereof in response to the information setreceived by the vehicle.

In another example, the method further includes receiving, by thevehicle, an information set from the management system.

In another example, the method further includes, receiving, by thevehicle, an information set from another vehicle.

In another example, the information set includes traffic flow, triptime, system capacity, wait time, or a combination thereof.

In another example, the method further includes, adjusting, by thevehicle, at least one of vehicle velocity and vehicle headway.

In another example, the method further includes, adjusting, by themanagement system, at least one of an operating status of the one ormore at least partially autonomous vehicles, a quantity of vehicles onthe one or more roadways, and a quantity of passengers at a boardingzone based at least in part on the requests to transport received.

In another example, the method further includes, responsive to receivingthe request, providing, by the management system, at least oneapproximate target route to the target vehicle. The method also includesselecting by default, by the assigned vehicle, one of the at least oneapproximate target routes. Additionally, the assigned vehicle isconfigured to travel along the selected approximate target route from astart point to a destination associated with the request to transport.

In another example, the at least one approximate target route includesstart, merge, cruise, demerge, and/or stop segments. Additionally, themanagement system is configured to provide a vehicle profile,parameters, and/or properties to the assigned vehicle for the at leastone segment.

In another example, the management system includes a plurality of areacontrollers each having an assigned and/or associated geographic area ofthe system.

In another example, the method includes sensing, by at least one of theplurality of the area controllers, a road condition. Additionally, themethod includes relaying, by the at least one of the plurality of areacontrollers, information corresponding to the road condition to avehicle traveling in the respectively assigned and/or associatedgeographic area.

In another example, at least two of the respective assigned and/orassociated geographic areas overlap.

In another example, the method further includes, making an autonomousdecision, by the one or more vehicles, based at least in part oninformation read from a sensor included on the one or more vehicles,wherein one or more of the roadways is marked with machine readableinformation associated with the roadway, the sensor is configured toread the information.

In another example, assigning one of the autonomous vehicles to fulfilthe request is at least partially based on minimizing a wait time of apassenger at the start point associated with the request to transport.

In another example, the method further includes receiving, by areservation system, a plurality of requests to transport from at leastone user, and sending, by the reservation system, the request totransport to the management system. Additionally, the requests mayinclude payload information.

In a third example, a system includes a means for receiving a request totransport from a user and a means for assigning an at least partiallyautonomous vehicle from one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles to fulfill the request. Each of the one or more at leastpartially autonomous vehicles is configured to cooperate with one ofanother vehicle and an area controller. The system also includes a meansfor informing the assigned vehicle of an assignment and a means forproviding an information set to the assigned vehicle related to therequest. The assigned vehicle operates on one or more at least partiallyseparated interconnected roadways according to the information set.

In another example, the system further includes a means for receivingthe information set from the management system, wherein the informationset includes traffic flow, trip time, system capacity, and/or wait time.

In another example, the system further includes a means for receivingthe information set from another vehicle, wherein the information setincludes traffic flow, trip time, system capacity, and/or wait time.

In another example, the system further includes a means for adjustingvehicle velocity and/or vehicle headway in response to receiving theinformation set from one of the management system or another vehicle.

In another example, the system further includes a means for adjusting anoperating status of the one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles, a quantity of vehicles on the one or more roadways, and/or aquantity of passengers at a boarding zone based at least in part on therequests to transport received.

In another example, the system further includes a second means forproviding at least one approximate target route to the target vehicle.Additionally, the system includes a means for selecting one of the atleast one approximate target routes. The assigned vehicle is configuredto travel along the selected approximate target route from a start pointto a destination associated with the request to transport.

In another example, the at least one approximate target route includesat least one of start, merge, cruise, demerge, and stop segments, andthe management system is configured to provide at least one of a vehicleprofile, parameters, and properties to the assigned vehicle for the atleast one segment.

In another example, the system further includes a means for sensing aroad condition and a means for relaying information corresponding to theroad condition to a vehicle traveling in a geographic area associatedwith the means for sensing.

In a fourth example, a non-transitory machine-readable medium storescode, which when executed by at least one processor, is configured toreceive a request to transport from a user and assign an at leastpartially autonomous vehicle from one or more at least partiallyautonomous vehicles to fulfill the request. Each of the one or more atleast partially autonomous vehicles is configured to cooperate with oneof another vehicle and an area controller. Additionally, the processoris configured to inform the assigned vehicle of the assignment andprovide an information set to the assigned vehicle related to therequest. The assigned vehicle operates on one or more at least partiallyseparated interconnected roadways according to the information set.

In another example, the at least one processor is further configured toadjust at least one of an operating status of the one or more at leastpartially autonomous vehicles, a quantity of vehicles on the one or moreroadways, and a quantity of passengers at a boarding zone based at leastin part on the requests to transport received.

In another example, the at least one processor is further configured toresponsive to receiving the request, provide an approximate targetroute(s) to the target vehicle. Additionally, the at least one processoris further configured to select by default one of the at least oneapproximate target routes. The assigned vehicle is configured to travelalong the selected approximate target route from a start point to adestination associated with the request to transport.

In another example, the at least one processor is further configured tosense a road condition and relay information corresponding to the roadcondition to a vehicle traveling in an associated geographic area of thearea controller.

In a fifth example, a system includes one or more at least partiallyautonomous transportation vehicles, one or more partially separatedinterconnected roadways, and a plurality of cooperative controllers incommunication with each other. The plurality of cooperative controllersare configured to provide an information set to at least one of theautonomous vehicles operating on the roadway.

In another example, the plurality of controllers includes at least amaster controller and an area controller.

In another example, the vehicle control system associated with the atleast one autonomous vehicle receives an area-specific information setfrom the at least one area controller.

In another example, the at least one area controller includes a firstarea controller and a second area controller. The first area controllermay provide a first information set according to a first controlparadigm and the second area controller may provide a second informationset according to a second control paradigm.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosed method and apparatusare described in, and will be apparent from, the following DetailedDescription and the Figures. The features and advantages describedherein are not all-inclusive and, in particular, many additionalfeatures and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart in view of the figures and description. Moreover, it should be notedthat the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and not to limitthe scope of the inventive subject matter

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an architectural diagram for an exampletransportation system, according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates further detail on control systems in thetransportation system, according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example operations center with management systemcomponents, according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a controller and communications arrangement accordingto an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an encoded roadway, according to an exampleembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example of a standard logical block.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example attribute set based on a standard examplevehicle.

FIG. 6A illustrates the occupation of a standard block by a vehicle.

FIG. 6B illustrates information associated with a standard block.

FIG. 7 illustrates relationships between the layers of blocks comprisinga mapping of an example roadway in some example embodiments.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D illustrate relationships between a vehicle and ablock, showing a block fully occupied, and a vehicle entering andleaving a block.

FIG. 9 illustrates the vehicle profiles arranged by increasing velocity.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example boarding zone in an example embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a series of blocks, one of which is occupied by avehicle (V1) and examples of the potential rule sets associated withthose blocks for a second vehicle (V2) that may attempt to enter thoseblocks.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process for handling boarding andde-boarding, according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified single curb double stack boarding zone,according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example roundabout boarding zone, according to anexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example vehicle information system architecture,according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example roll-on roll-off freight containersystem, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates potential sensor configurations on an examplevehicle.

FIG. 18 illustrates vehicle marking/indicia and sensors that may beincorporated into vehicles.

FIG. 19 illustrates a vehicle merging with an existing flow of othervehicles, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates example relationships between vehicles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The disclosed improved transportation system provides numerousimprovements over the operation of existing mass transit andpersonalized transport systems such as a fleet of independent autonomouspeer-to-peer ridesharing vehicles. These improvements include thereduction of passenger wait time, increased vehicle availability, andreduction of operating cost per unit of passenger distance travelled bya reduction in operating costs from optimizations of vehicleassignments, and are enabled by various combinations of the technologiesand operating methods described herein.

In some example embodiments, vehicles travel over at least partiallyseparated interconnected roadways made up of a plurality of roadwaysegments of differing types.

Some example embodiments described in the present disclosure include atransportation system for the general public with electrically poweredvehicles configured to partially operate on at least a separated roadwaywhere such cooperating vehicles have right of way. A separated roadwaymay include roadway segments that are grade separated or logicallyseparated. A grade separated roadway may include roadway segments thatprovide at least one form of physical isolation from the surroundingarea sufficient to prevent and/or deter other vehicles, people, animals(for example dogs, cats and similar sized wildlife), detritus, balls ortoys and the like form entering the roadway. A logically separatedroadway may provide roadway segments where there is an identifiedseparation, but where the separation does not impose at least one formof physical isolation from surrounding areas. For example, a logicallyseparated roadway may include specific roadway segments that aredesignated for a use by the system such as a dedicated lane on amulti-lane roadway, or a repurposed bike lane. Roadway segments may befurther characterized by their function and use, e.g. functionalcharacterizations of trunk, distributor, and boarding zone roadwaysegments, and use-based characterizations (dedicated or integrated) thatdescribe the types of vehicles permitted to operate on the roadwaysegment, e.g. a roadway segment may permit only transportation systemspecific vehicles (such as cooperative or gauge limited vehicles) ondedicated segments, or transportation system specific vehicles mayintermingle with general vehicle traffic on integrated and sharedroadway segments. Integrated roadways are comprised of roadway segmentsthat are associated with at least one area controller, and have mixedtraffic between transportation system specific vehicles and generalvehicle traffic. For example, an integrated roadway may include roadwaysensors and/or area controllers that communicate with transportationsystem specific vehicles. A shared roadway is a roadway segment forwhich there is no associated area controller and/or management system.For example, a shared roadway may include roadway segments that may beused by mixed traffic (e.g., transportation system specific vehicles andgeneral vehicle traffic) without the presence of roadway sensors and/orarea controllers. Sets of roadway segments may be referred to as a“line”, e.g. a trunk line.

Roadway segments may be organized such that they are interconnected toform linear, branching, network, or mesh roadway topologies.

Example vehicles, when in transit, may be continuously moving in normaloperations using a combination of trunk, distributor and boarding zoneroadway segments to move passengers from their selected origin to theirdestination. Trunk roadway segments are typically characterized ashaving higher capacity, generally providing higher throughput andvehicle velocities than distributor roadway segments. Distributorroadway segments typically provide lower capacity, throughput andvehicle velocities. Boarding zone segments typically provide thelocations called slots where passengers may embark and disembarkvehicles.

One example transportation system may include cooperative autonomousvehicles, infrastructure elements, and sets of control system componentsand their associated management systems. Each of these parts may furtherinclude components that perform specific tasks in support of operatingthe described transportation system.

An example transport system is capable of offering door to door personalvehicles that operate in a high throughput continuous manner with pathisolation over a partially separated roadway using vehicles that may besized so as to transport at least one person. Recognizing that singleperson trips typically make up the vast majority of trips in manycongested mass transit environments, one example small vehicle may besufficiently wide to accommodate at least one person, with a secondperson sitting in-line (behind or in front) of the first passenger. Itwill be appreciated that larger vehicles may also be provided. Examplevehicles may employ electric propulsion on a chassis. A common chassismay be adapted to passenger and/or freight operations, as well asproviding for specialist tasks, such as maintenance, snow removal,letter or other package delivery and the like.

Example embodiments described in the present disclosure may provide:

-   -   Vehicle sizing—matching the size of the vehicle to payload type        (passenger or freight);    -   Continuous Flow—once a passenger journey has commenced, a        vehicle may, under normal operation, continue moving until the        journey is complete;    -   Decentralized offline boarding zones—making use of existing city        environments and infrastructure without the need for large and        expensive boarding areas similar to a station;    -   Flexible and scalable at low cost—each vehicle roadway occupies        a minimal amount of geographic space and may incorporate        multiple vehicle flows that may be aggregated for higher        capacity;    -   On demand—each journey may be pre-scheduled by a user on an        on-demand basis

Some example embodiments described in the present disclosure may providethe capacity demanded by large cities meeting a demand that is notcurrently addressed by other autonomous and conventional systems at afraction of the capital and operating costs of current rail-basedapproaches, whilst meeting the customers' demand for personalized, ondemand transit with fast and efficient journey times.

Some example embodiments described in the present disclosure may providean integrated set of capabilities, which create a solution to thecurrent high density urban transport dilemma facing cities today, inpart through a substantial reduction in capital and operating expenses,achieved through less interventionist and expensive infrastructure withautonomous vehicles and associated technologies to deliver the capacitythat cities require, whilst providing a personalized experience thatpassengers desire.

The example transportation systems may include, but are not limited to,one or more controllers and/or controller-associated management systemsthat implement:

-   -   Reservation and scheduling systems    -   Event monitoring and operating evaluation systems    -   Exception management systems    -   Operating synchronization and management system    -   Load balancing and optimization systems    -   Power and power consumption management systems    -   Integration with the physical system infrastructure and        associated sensors    -   Payments and billing systems    -   Security and identity management systems    -   Communications, messaging and integration protocols    -   Passenger management and personalization systems    -   Distributed storage and power charging systems    -   Retail, warehousing and other pick pack and ship integration        systems    -   Customer interaction systems, including authentication and        authorization    -   Reconfigurable vehicle platforms    -   Freight handling and management systems

When used without further distinction (e.g. an area controller and itsassociated management system for a boarding zone is called a boardingzone management system (BMS) to distinguish it from an area controllerand its associated management system that manages a trunk segment calleda Trunk Management System (TMS)), the term management system comprises asystem made up of the common controller, area controllers, an autonomousvehicle pilot system (AVPS), and their associated controller-specificmanagement systems as described herein).

It should be noted that any specific controller-specific managementsystem may be implemented as a module within specific controllerhardware, as an external subsystem that is in direct communication withthe controller, and/or as a stand-alone external subsystem thatcommunicates with the control system as a whole. In some exampleembodiments, the common controller, and/or an associated managementsystem for a deployment of an example transportation system mayadditionally include, but is not limited to, any of the systems listedbelow, in addition to those listed above:

-   -   Capacity and route planning (predictive/current/historical)        system    -   Distributed storage and power management systems    -   Power and power (distribution and consumption) management        systems    -   Resource management and allocation systems    -   Communications backbone, protocols, messaging and integrations

Example transportation systems may be integrated with a range ofexternal systems which include:

-   -   Payment and billing    -   Applications for accessing and using vehicles    -   Finance and leasing systems    -   Retail, warehousing and other pick, pack and ship integrations    -   Vehicle scheduling and reservation systems    -   Fleet management and deployment systems    -   Mapping systems (including updates and real time)    -   Freight and package management and handling solutions

Ancillary systems may include several capabilities that support thepassengers and their personal contexts, including:

-   -   Passenger, identity and security    -   Passenger recognition (e.g. Face, body, movement, biometrics and        the like)    -   Passenger fare/transaction attribution (for example multiple        passengers one of whom booked and transacted/paid for one or        more journeys)    -   Vehicle personalization    -   Social network enablement    -   Passenger management    -   Passenger contextual information systems    -   Passenger reservation and scheduling systems    -   Passenger behavior analytics (individual, group and        aggregate-including anonymized and individual)    -   Passenger communications

Safety, assurance and redundancy systems employed by the example systemmay include:

-   -   Interlocking radio, RF ID, messaging, communications,        navigation, positioning, mapping and other infrastructure        systems involving both passive and active elements configured        for redundant operations.    -   Collision avoidance and mitigation systems    -   Route protection and separation infrastructure    -   Vehicle rescue capabilities    -   Graceful failover, (such that an individual vehicle can roll to        a stop)    -   Passenger protection systems (including “slowflate”—large airbag        with incremental inflation based on deceleration and other        information sets providing forewarning of collision)    -   Operations state management (exception management at common,        area, vehicle and infrastructure level)    -   Vehicle security and identity management systems (security and        cryptographically bound identity of vehicle and component sub        systems)    -   Vehicle integrity monitoring        1.1 Example Architecture

In some embodiments, there are three types of control system componentsfor an example control system, common controller components, areacontroller components and AVPS. Each of these may have dedicatedfunctionality and may interoperate with each other to provide anintegrated transportation control system.

The control system components can be integrated with management systemsand on-vehicle controllers (for example those controlling the rollingchassis), infrastructure elements, and external integrated systems tocreate an overall system deployment.

Each of the individual control system components may create and retainone or more audit trails as a record of their activity, which in someembodiments may be evaluated by one or more machine learning algorithmsto further develop appropriate optimizations, comparisons betweenmultiple example systems deployed in different geographical locations,passenger behavior characteristics and the like.

FIG. 1A illustrates an architectural diagram for an example system 100,according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. A commoncontroller 102 may control the transportation system as a whole, withsome management operations supported by the associated managementsystem, the Common Management System (CMS). The common controller 102may be associated with a control room 108. The system 100 may be incommunication with one or more area controllers (e.g., area controllers104 a-c, referred to generally as area controller(s) 104) that areassociated with a particular geographic or functional area of thesystem, and provide various information sets 106 supporting operationalcontrols over the associated particular geographic or functional areasof the system, e.g., a particular roadway segment or segments inproximity with each other, particular sets of roadway segments that makeup trunk routes, etc. The area controllers 104 may provide local generalcontrol to an AVPS (e.g., AVPS 110 a-c, referred to generally as AVPS110) associated with individual vehicles (e.g., vehicles 112 a-c,referred to generally as vehicles 112), which may also communicatedirectly with local “smart infrastructure” 114 a-c deployed throughoutthe system. The area controllers 104 may be connected with one or moresensors or sensor arrays associated with the associated particulargeographic or functional area, such as cameras, RADAR, and/or LIDARsensors positioned to observe some or all of roadway segment, and one ormore software programs to read information from the sensors and storeand/or forward the sensor information to one or more other areacontrollers, AVPS, and/or a common controller. The area controller mayfurther have one or more programs that read the sensor information,interpret the sensed information in order to determine one or moreaspects of the roadway segment and/or vehicles travelling on thatsegment, create one or more information sets comprising informationbased, at least in part, upon the sensed information, and then transmitthe information set to one or more AVPS 110, area controllers 104,and/or a common controller 102. For example, the area controller 104 mayread sensor information from a connected camera, process the image todetermine one or more of whether the roadway is blocked, there iscurrent traffic on the roadway and its velocity, whether the roadway maybe affected by the weather (e.g. the roadway is wet, the roadway is snowcovered). The area controller 104 may communicate with other areacontrollers 104, the common controller 102, and AVPS's 110 using an I/Odevice, a wired or wireless network, or wireless radio communicationsinterface.

Area controllers 104, common controllers 102, and AVPS 110 may furthercomprise one or more management system programs, which may manage one ormore aspects of the transportation system. In an alternative embodiment,the area controllers, common controller, and/or AVPS may be associatedwith one or more management systems and communicate with thosemanagement systems using one or more communications interfaces usingwired or wireless networks and an appropriate network interface. Inanother alternative embodiment, the area controllers, common controller,and/or AVPS may communicate with external management services using anI/O device, a wired or wireless network, or a wireless radiocommunications interface.

The area controllers may provide local general control information toAVPS each associated with individual vehicles in the form of one or moreinformation sets, which may also communicate directly with local “smartinfrastructure” deployed throughout the system. FIG. 1B illustratesfurther detail on control system components in the exampletransportation system 100, according to an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure. For example, the area controllers may includemanagement system modules (e.g., management system modules 132 a-c) thatinterface with the operational control system 130 via control systeminterfaces (e.g., CS IF 134 a-c). Additionally, the management systemmodules 132 a-c may manage aspects of the transportation system. Mappingmodules 140, maintenance & Support modules 150 and billing systemmodules 160 may interface with the common controller 102 via commoncontroller interfaces (e.g., CC IF 170 a-c).

1.1.1 Common Controller and Common Management System (CMS)

An example CMS supports shared features useful to the operation of theentire system. For example, the CMS may receive and process aggregationsof the information sets generated by the other system elements (areacontroller and vehicle AVPS) and store them in a common repository (e.g.one or more database) for use by the various subsystems. Based onreceived information, the CMS may assess the overall status of thesystem. The CMS may provide integration with third party systems such asbilling systems, and features that are system wide such as identitymanagement and the like.

In an example, the area controller and/or management system comprises anoperational control system which performs the functions described above(e.g. TMS, BMS), as well as additional subsystems as necessary for theconfiguration that the area controller is deployed. In an example wherethe area controller and/or management system is a boarding zonemanagement system, the area control may further comprise subsystems thatmanage sensors and boarding zone management functions such as assetmanagement, personalization, and ID management. The area controllerand/or management system is also in communication with the CMS andexternal systems, using an I/O interface such as a network. For example,a mapping and maintenance and support subsystem may have interfaces tothe CMS, and an example billing subsystem may have an interfaceconnection to an external billing system.

The area controller is in communication with the vehicles operating uponthe roadways under its control, in particular, the area controller is incommunication with the AVPS controlling each vehicle in order tocommunicate information sets such as control and scheduling information,as well as control suggestions.

The area controller is also in communication with the infrastructuresurrounding the area controller using one or more input/outputinterfaces. For example, with a boarding zone controller, the controlleris in communication with sensors that provide passenger recognition andlocation information, which the boarding zone controller uses to infertiming of when a passenger will be available to board an availablevehicle. In a further example of a virtual segment area controller, thecontroller may be in communication with local infrastructure such astraffic cameras and “smart” stoplights in order to control thestoplights so as to provide enhanced right of way for cooperatingvehicles.

The common control system may also have an associated operations center,where the overall operating status of the transportation system may berepresented and where appropriate operations are managed by team membersin conjunction with the control system components and their managementsystems. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an operations center withcommon management systems 200, according to an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The operations center may include an operator humanmachine interface 274 and/or user interfaces 276 a-d.

Common management system components may include, but are not limited tothe following modules:

-   -   Reporting and exception handling (220)    -   System Load Management (230)    -   Maintenance and support (including asset management) (250)    -   Billing systems (external to system, via interface 278)    -   Billing systems interface (278)    -   Common Controller interface (272)    -   System capacity management and planning (not shown)    -   Reservation and scheduling systems (240)    -   User Travel Management (260)    -   Machine Learning (270)

Each of these systems may include one or more repositories employingboth those that emphasize ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation andDurability). The information may be stored, for example, in SQLdatabases and those that follow CAP (Consistency, Availability andPartition tolerance), for example, a NOSQL database such as CoachDB,including both schema on read and schema on write in any arrangement.

The CMS comprises a plurality of data repositories that are used tostore information about the operation of the system. The datarepositories may communicate with the various common management systemcomponents and modules via data management layers 214, which may bepresented to a user via user interface layers 212 and/or user interfaces276 a-d. The data repositories include:

ID Repository Name Data types 210a Mapping Segment definitions andattributes 210b User identity User identity and personalization 210cAudit trails Audit trail information from various management and controlsystems. 210d Asset management Infrastructure, controllers, and vehicleinformation

The CMS may also have an associated control center, where the overalloperating status of the system may be represented and where appropriateoperations are managed by team members in conjunction with controlsystems.

In some embodiments, maintenance, billing and reporting systems mayconsist of standard off the shelf systems, which are then integratedinto the Common control system through appropriate API's using thecommunications interface 216.

Unlike autonomous vehicles operating without separation from alternateforms of transport and/or potential hazards and/or obstacles, such aspeople, animals, roadside obstacles and the like, the example systemsmay have a stable state of operations. This stable state may beadvantageously unimpeded by capacity bottlenecks, such as those causedby infrastructure (e.g. tunnels etc.) and may be configured for optimumcapacity of such a system expressed in metrics such as vehicle movements(which may include people transported) in specific time frames,passenger and/or vehicle journey times, passenger comfort and safety,energy efficiency, system maintenance, financial costs and the likeacross an example system (including sections thereof). Such states maybe determined by, in whole or in part, one or more control systems, forexample, a CMS in collaboration with other control systems. Within aspecific system, the CMS may have access to algorithms to configure andmanage such optimized stable states, providing information and/orinstructions to each area controller and AVPS, which then operatecollaboratively towards an optimized and stable systemic state.

1.1.1.1 Reporting and Exception Handling (220)

The reporting and exception handling subsystems provide reportingprograms for collecting, aggregating, analyzing and reporting uponoperational data stored in one or more repositories. Such systems mayinclude deployment specific reports that verify the operations of thesystem are aligned with any service level agreements entered into. Suchreporting may be dynamic, including real time and/or periodic (e.g.,hourly, daily, weekly and the like).

1.1.1.2 System Load Management (230)

System load management systems track and monitor the overall loading ofthe system and the components thereof. The system load management systemtracks current and projected loads, for example, using physical andlogical vehicle representations as described herein, and comparescurrent and projected loads against system capacity. The system capacityconstraint may be determined by the limitation that any one of thesystem components, for example boarding zone capacity, vehicleavailability, roadway capacity, time delay for passenger acceptance andvehicle matching and the like. Many current systems optimize for asingle capacity resource, such as a train station, specific vehicle ordriver and the like, whereas this system may optimize for any of a setof parameters, including for overall capacity through use of one or morealgorithms to achieve one or more states of stable operations.

1.1.1.3 Capacity and Route Planning System

The control system and its associated management system may providecapacity planning and route suggestions to the transportation systems.Capacity planning systems may model the capacity of the transportationsystem and determine the number of vehicles are operating in the systemare sufficient to meet current and projected demands. The capacity androute planning system may also establishes the capacity of each roadwaysegment of the system from reported audit data so as to ensure that thesystem is not overloaded.

If the capacity planning module determines that additional vehicles areneeded, it may initiate requests to the reservation system to assign aparked vehicle (e.g. a vehicle in a garage) to be made active and tomove to the general area of the roadway that is (will be) needed. Theassignment of the vehicle and the communication of the assignment to thevehicle are described elsewhere. Conversely, if the capacity planningmodule determines that too many vehicles are operating, it may initiatea request to assign and move a vehicle to a parking area where thevehicle can wait without utilizing significant amounts of energy untilit is needed again. Similarly, if the capacity planning moduledetermines that vehicles are needed in a particular place, it mayinitiate requests for unused vehicles to remain in particular areaswhere greater capacity is needed.

In an embodiment, the capacity planning function and the system loadmanagement function model the capacity and current load of at least someof the roadways of the system using a combination of logical andphysical vehicle representations. In this way, the actual and planned(future) use of any aspect of the system may be calculated and anybottlenecks resolved before they occur on roadways and in boardingzones.

Physical vehicle information includes information for vehicles that arecurrently operating on a roadway, and is taken from one or morerepositories, controllers, and management systems of the system. Logicalvehicles are created by capacity planning and system load managementwhen a reservation requires a placeholder for capacity and load planningpurposes. As a physical vehicle begins operation, the logical andphysical vehicle representations are merged by the capacity and systemload management functions.

The management of the lag between the under supply or over supply ofvehicles to match the demand for such vehicles is undertaken throughhaving a forward view of the forthcoming demand, as each prospectiveuser, in some embodiments, provides information for a future scheduledrequest for transport (as described below). This information may beprovided by a controller through information sets originating from thereservation and scheduling management system and may be complemented byone or more other information sources, such as for example analysis ofprevious operating history, trend analysis, probability distributionsand other algorithmic approaches.

The capacity planning module may make capacity forecasts available aspart of one or more information sets that may be sent to controllers andvehicles.

The route planning system works in conjunction with the capacityplanning system and the reservation system to determine one or morerecommended or target routes and corresponding trip times on the roadwaythat a vehicle may travel in order to fulfill an assigned request. Thetarget routes may be used by the capacity and system load managementsystems to project future loads and capacity bottlenecks. These targetroutes may be provided by a controller to the vehicle when the vehicleis notified of its assignment to fulfill a request.

1.1.1.4 Vehicle Deployment Control Systems

In considering the management of sets of vehicles in a deployment, aseries of relationships can determine the effective and optimizedoperations of such a deployment. In some embodiments, these include thefollowing example relationships:

-   -   Vehicle and geographic location    -   Vehicle and time (space)    -   Vehicle and space that vehicle occupies (expressed in space and        time)    -   Vehicle and a set of other Vehicles within a radius (vehicle        context)    -   Vehicle and specified origin and destination points    -   Vehicle and energy status of that vehicle    -   Vehicle and vehicle payload/occupant

Each of these relationships may be used by one or more control andmanagement systems to determine the operations of one or more suchvehicles within a deployment.

1.1.1.5 Reservation and Scheduling System (240)

The common controller, the common controller management system (CMS), oranother subsystem in communication with the common controller mayprovide passenger reservation and scheduling management. For example,potential passengers may pre-book their journey through, for example, anapplication hosted on a suitable device, such as a smart phone. Thisapplication provides the passenger with one or more approaches foridentifying their current location and providing information as to theirdestination. They may also allow specification of any intermediatedestinations, for example, where another passenger may be boarded. Thecommon controller or a reservation and scheduling subsystem of the CMSmay transform this information into one or more origin-destination pointinformation set for the passenger, and may then elicit from thepassenger, the passenger's preferred pick up time.

In some circumstances, pick up timing may be associated with capacity,for example if the system is nearing capacity, then potential passengersmay have their pick-up times delayed until an appropriate vehicle orboarding slot is available in order to help manage crowding at aboarding zone, an alternative routing, including differing boardingzones for embarkation and disembarkation, are selected, or the timingchange may be used to help manage congestion control at the points ofcapacity constraint within the system and system infrastructure, or tohelp provide congestion control at key bottlenecks in theinfrastructure.

In some embodiments, passengers confirm their trip requests through areservation system, the reservation system may ensure that the overallsystem, through interactions with a scheduling and matching system, canconfigure the system operating parameters to meet the terms of thatrequest.

As passengers may be unlikely to be accurate in timing their own arrivalwith sufficient accuracy for efficient system operations, and where eachboarding zone has multiple boarding slots, the reservation system mayoffer passengers timing based, for example, to the nearest minute,though with sufficient flexibility through the use of vehicle andpassenger slack time as well as passenger timings to have a vehicleavailable for them at the offered time.

Reservation systems may offer endpoint timing selection, i.e. when thepassenger wishes to arrive at their destination and/or departure timing(e.g., when the passenger wishes to leave). Passengers may select eitheror both their destination and/or departure, and may have additionaltiming calculated, such as that from their current location to theirorigin BMS and from the destination BMS to the final destination.

The reservation processing may include other variables, such as forexample:

-   -   Sharing a vehicle with another passenger unknown to the        passenger attempting to book (in some embodiments some        information may be shared by the system with appropriate        permissions)    -   Offering a passenger an embarkation/disembarkation choice that        is outside a predetermined (by passenger/system or both)        distance of their selected origin/destination    -   Differing pricing or other commercial terms for more or less        immediate scheduling of their journey        1.1.1.5.1 Trip Request Processing

A trip request is a negotiation between a passenger and thetransportation system, represented in some embodiments, by a reservationsystem where a passenger selects at least an origin and destination pairand either a departure time or an arrival time. This information, withpassenger identity(ies), location information, preferences and/or otherpertinent information may be provided by the passenger, often through anapplication, to the reservation system.

In some embodiments, the reservation system may then calculate theappropriate distributed boarding zones which are closest to thepassengers selected origin and destination. Such origin and destinationdistributed boarding zones may also be selected by a passenger and/oroffered to a passenger in an interactive manner through an application.

After requesting a journey, a passenger may have a set of attributesassociated with the journey. Example attributes may include: a)passenger identity information sets, b) passenger journey origin anddestination, c) assigned boarding zone, d) passenger desired arrivaltime and/or system derived departure time (which may be provided as arange), and e) passenger determined departure time and/or system derivedarrival time (which may be provided as a range).

After the reservation has been created by the system, for eachprospective user, the reservation system may provide, in someembodiments, an information set with the pending request for transportinformation. An example information set may comprise the followingitems, however, it will be appreciated that variants may have lessinformation in the information set:

-   -   Start point and destination point(s), either approximate or        precise    -   Time for boarding    -   Estimated trip time    -   Estimated wait time for boarding    -   Number of people travelling    -   Special circumstances, e.g. wheelchair, small children etc.    -   Identity of passenger(s) and passenger-based preferences    -   Type of credential to be presented to the vehicle

Once the request for transport information set is received by the commoncontroller, one or more vehicles are assigned to fulfill the request bythe scheduling and matching system of the CMS and the information set isupdated with the assigned vehicle information. The assignment ofvehicles may be determined based upon numerous factors, including, forexample, the following information sources:

-   -   Historical travel patterns by time period (for example holidays,        weekday, month and other seasonality factors)    -   Weather    -   Special events    -   Estimated time for the vehicle to arrive at the origination        point.    -   Vehicle availability    -   Current vehicle location and operating status (e.g. power state)

These factors may be combined and the reservation system selects one ormore vehicles to be assigned to fulfill the request.

In an embodiment, the vehicle(s) are selected from the vehicles that areavailable.

In an alternative embodiment, the vehicle(s) are selected based uponoperational characteristics of the vehicle, such as type of payload itcan carry or the number of passengers the vehicle can hold.

In another alternative embodiment, the vehicle(s) are selected from thevehicles that are available and that have a minimum time to arrive atthe origination point. Vehicles that are already located at theorigination point are treated as having a zero “0” time to arrive at theorigination point.

In another alternative embodiment, the vehicle(s) are selected from thevehicles that can arrive “just in time” to the origination point, so asto optimize the use of the boarding zone resources by minimizing theamount of time a vehicle or passenger waits at a boarding zone andincreasing vehicle availability by not having vehicles wait idly forpassengers to arrive.

In another alternative embodiment, the selection of the vehicles to beassigned to fulfill the request is made based upon one or more costmetrics related to an aspect of the operation of the system, such as acost to operate the vehicle.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the vehicles are selected usingan algorithm that optimizes the vehicle availability of all the vehiclesin the system and selects the most optimal vehicle(s) givenconsideration of the availability of all the vehicles in the system.Optimizing the overall availability of vehicles in the system ensuresthat wait times for vehicles at start points is minimized across theentire transportation system.

Any of above, or other criteria not described may be used to configurethe selection algorithm in order to optimize the vehicle selectionalgorithm without deviating from the scope of the disclosure.

The selection method varies depending upon the loading of thetransportation system. In some embodiments, the system may switchbetween selection methods based upon the current capacity and load ofthe transportation system. For example, if the load of the system iscurrently low, and many vehicles are parked in a boarding zone in orderto minimize operating costs, the system may use a selection algorithmthat minimizes the time for the vehicle to arrive, as most vehicles willbe selected from the parked vehicles. Alternatively, if there arecurrently large number of requests for a specific origination point(e.g., boarding zone) that place the origination point (e.g., boardingzone) close to its operating capacity, the vehicle selected may be theone that can arrive at the boarding zone at the same time, so as tooptimize the throughput of the boarding zone and thus increase thenumber of requests that can be fulfilled per unit time.

Once the vehicle(s) are assigned to a request for transport, a copy ofan information set corresponding to the request for transport may besent from the common controller to the assigned vehicles, eitherdirectly via a communications method available to the common controller,or from the common controller via one or more area controllers. Thecommon controller optionally may broadcast the information set to allarea controllers, or may determine the area controller(s) currently incommunication with the vehicle(s) and send the information set to thosespecific area controllers for forwarding to the vehicles. Theinformation set sent by the common controller may be provided by acommon controller that includes reservation and scheduling system, ormay be created by an external reservation and scheduling system and sentto the common controller for onward transmission.

Some alternative example reservations described herein integratepre-booked journeys, where a passenger requests a journey, specifyingtheir origin and destination points, using for example, an app, webinterface, voice command or other communications methods as supported byan example transportation system. This request for transport informationis then scheduled by one or more common controller, management systems,and/or area controllers, so as to provide a confirmation to thepassenger of the boarding zone location, the time of the availability ofthe vehicle or vehicle in case of group bookings, the anticipated timeof the journey, the transaction terms of the journey (cost or otherequivalent value exchange), method of payment for such value exchangeand any other information set pertinent to the journey.

1.1.1.5.2 Scheduling and Matching of Reservations

The scheduling and matching subsystem of the trip reservation systemallows for capacity management and resource allocation in the form ofvehicles, boarding zone slots and other system resources to meetpassenger demand as created with the trip reservation system.

The scheduling and matching subsystems may calculate the availability ofan embarkation slot and disembarkation slot for a passenger after theymake a trip request for their journey. The calculation may include theanticipated status of both embarkation and disembarkation BMS at therequested time of departure or arrival. Additionally, these calculationsmay include detailed scheduling for entering and leaving boarding zonesas well as any passenger specific information, such as their rate oftravel when using a boarding zone. In this manner, the scheduling andmatching systems calculate the time period(s) in which the likelihood ofthe availability of a vehicle is sufficient to accept the reservationand create an information set which instantiates the reservation.

When an information set for the reservation is instantiated, a logicalvehicle may be assigned to at least one TMS preceding the relevantorigin BMS, within the time period information of when a physicalvehicle is planned to be available for a passenger. The TMS may thenattempt to match the logical vehicle to a physical vehicle, such that avehicle becomes designated for reservation and associated informationset. The TMS may then provide the matched vehicles' AVPS withappropriate information set, such as the BMS for the vehicle to interactwith. This information may then be communicated to that BMS, which willthen synchronize the vehicles arrival with the passengers that arescheduled to arrive at that boarding zone for embarkation

Vehicles that TMS(s) may attempt to match, may be already in use, inwhich case the destination BMS may need a vehicle for embarkation of apassenger. Other vehicles that TMS(s) may attempt to match include thosethat currently do not have a passenger. These vehicles may communicateto TMS(s) their energy or other vehicle status, which may be used in thematching process.

In an example, the system may be a closed system, such that schedulingand matching may not accept trip requests for a particular time periodif the resulting reservation would likely cause the continuous flow tocease or result in a significantly reduced flow. One of the factors inmaintaining continuous traffic flow is the availability of a slot fordisembarkation for a passenger once a passenger has entered a vehicle.To achieve optimal flow, system management components may collaboratewith scheduling and matching systems to orchestrate and manage theavailability of such slots, such that passengers may only be offeredreservations when the system has sufficient capacity to complete theirjourneys.

In some embodiments, the capacity of the system may be modelled as thenumber (e.g., quantity) of logical vehicles and physical vehiclespopulating the system at a point in time. For example, each logicalvehicle represents a potential for a physical vehicle. For example, areservation system may create a logical vehicle when a reservation hasbeen created and such vehicle may then be inserted into an operatingvehicle flow such that the logical vehicle represents a potentialphysical vehicle, which is only assigned to the specific passenger whenthat passenger has been recognized by a boarding zone system. This latebinding of physical vehicle to a passenger may increase the flexibilityof the reservation and scheduling capabilities of the system, whichhelps reduce the wait time of passengers by letting the systemjust-in-time match available vehicles to passengers who have arrived ata boarding zone.

In the same manner, each TMS and BMS also create and maintain logicalrepresentations of their available capacity for optimum throughputand/or other specified performance metrics, which are then populated byphysical vehicles for each time period.

Matching systems may utilize sets of algorithms and techniques tomaintain system operations, such as for example Bayesian probabilityanalysis and other statistical techniques, machine learning, neuralnetworks, goal seeking, acyclic and other forms of graphs and the like,in any arrangement.

1.1.2 Area Controller(s)

An example area controller comprises a management system configured anddeployed to manage the operations in a portion of the system, e.g., tomanage a portion of the infrastructure and a set of autonomous vehiclesoperating in that portion of the infrastructure. This may includescheduling, travel, locations, flow, loading, distribution, etc. Forexample, such a system may comprise a set of features, implemented asprograms executed by the CPU of the area controller, including but notlimited to:

-   -   Operational control systems    -   Operational fleet management    -   Personalization and identity management    -   Energy management    -   Communications    -   Safety

An area controller may prepare and/or configure information sets thatprovide an AVPS with operating configurations that may, in whole or inpart, determine the operations of one or more cooperative vehicles andthen communicate some of all of the information sets to an AVPS. Aspectsof the information set may originate from other control systemcomponents (for example, a common controller, a second area controller,a second AVPS) or from sensors connected to the area controller.

The example system may further include a plurality of area controllerseach having an assigned geographic area of the system, the areacontrollers providing information sets comprising control instructionsto vehicles traveling in their respectively assigned geographic areas.Optionally, an area controller may also be configured provideinformation sets comprising cooperative control information to vehiclestravelling to a common destination, even when such vehicles are indifferent assigned geographic areas.

Area controllers are generally associated with or assigned to one ormore geographic areas or infrastructure elements. Additionally the areacontrollers may manage the operation of the system around theirrespective assigned or associated areas/elements. In an embodiment, aplurality of area controllers may be assigned to a specific geographicarea or infrastructure element. A respective assigned or associatedgeographic areas of one area controller may overlap with anotherassigned or associated geographic area of another area controller. Forexample, multiple area controllers may be associated with at least aportion of the same geographic area or infrastructure element.Similarly, a cooperative vehicle may be operating cooperatively with oneor more area controllers at the same time.

An area controller may manage vehicles within the area or domaincontrolled by such an area controller, for example an area configured bya common controller or other management system, or an area that isdetermined by other factors such as the physical geometry of a specificphysical and/or logical location, area of sensor coverage, etc. Thevehicles operating within such an area are associated with areacontroller(s) for that area, and communicate with the one or more areacontroller associated with the area.

Area controllers may have responsibility for one or more merge/demergezones. For such zone, the area controller may communicate informationsets so as to inform cooperation with vehicles intending tomerge/demerge and those vehicles with which they are merging/demerging.For example, this may include providing vehicles with block basedtrajectories (including both logical and geo blocks). The block basedtrajectories may provide a framework for those vehicles involved todetermine the appropriate navigation and positioning as determined bytheir AVPS, so that the integration or separation of the vehicle mergingor demerging has minimal impact on the optimum flow of vehicles. In somecases, these merge/demerge zones will be determined in advance. Forexample, merge/demerge zone adjacent to fixed boarding zones or where adistributor roadway segment connects or disconnects from a trunk roadwaysegment may be predetermined. Other merge/demerge zones may be dynamicin that a vehicle for example may have boarded/de-boarded a passenger ata location that is not a fixed boarding zone.

Area controllers provide task specific control of aspects of thetransportation system. These controllers are generally optimized for aspecific function (e.g. boarding area controller), and are connected toactivity specific sensor suites that are used by the controller todetermine information about the roadway segments it controls and theenvironment surrounding those roadway segments. For example, boardingzone controllers are connected with boarding zone systems, includingreservation request kiosks, passenger monitoring and trackingsubsystems, and the like.

Area controllers are also in communication with a common controller andother area controllers. In this way, area controllers may operate eitheras a hierarchical control system or as a mesh control system dependingupon the control strategy being employed. In addition, area controllersare in communication with the vehicle controllers of the vehiclesoperating within the roadway segments that they manage.

Lastly, area controllers are in communication with common resourcesprovided by the CMS on an as needed basis, for example, in order toreport auditable data, passenger, and vehicle and roadway statusinformation.

Area controllers generally provide operational guidance, localperformance optimization (e.g. as vehicle movements within a boardingzone), and conflict resolution within their functional area. Areacontrollers may perform some or all of the following tasks:

-   -   Store and forward of control information between vehicles, area        controllers, and common controllers.    -   Store and forward of sensor information between vehicles, area        controllers, and common controllers.    -   Store and forward vehicle reporting (including vehicle sensor        information) between vehicles, area controllers, and common        controllers/CMS.    -   Manage and optimize the local roadway segment model    -   Issue control instructions to vehicles operating upon roadway        segments under its control as determined by the local roadway        segment model.    -   Provide suggested control information to vehicles operating upon        roadway segments under its control, or to vehicles that will be        passing into or out of its area of control for coordination        purposes.    -   Monitor connected sensor information for safety and operational        inputs.    -   Monitor vehicle reporting for safety and operational inputs.    -   Coordinate with other area controllers for vehicle flow control.    -   Forecast roadway segment usage.    -   Alert upon determining an unsafe or out of normal operating        condition occurs.    -   Determine and establish virtual roadway fiducial markers (in        roadway or in the environment surrounding or adjacent to a        roadway) and communicate these fiducial markers to vehicles as        needed.    -   Coordinate and instruct infrastructure under its control (e.g.        gates, stoplights)        1.1.3 Controller Communications

FIG. 3 illustrates a system overview 280 of a common management system(“CMS”) 281 communicating with various other control systems, includingseveral types of area controller and/or management system. For example,the CMS 281 may communicate with boarding zone management systems(“BMS”) 284, trunk management systems (“TMS”) 282 a and 282 b, and AVPS286 a-d.

The CMS 281 may be configured to coordinate a continuous flow of aplurality of vehicles, which may each have its own AVPS (e.g., 286 a-d),on roadway segments (e.g., roadway segments 288 a-c). The CMS 281 maycoordinate the continuous flow of the plurality of vehicles throughcommunication with the other controllers and management systems (e.g.,TMS, BMS, AVPS) illustrated in FIG. 4. Through this communication,vehicles may be directed to arrive at a boarding zone from a pluralityof interconnected roadway segments. Similarly, vehicles may be directedto depart from the boarding zone to the plurality of interconnectedroadway segments. The roadway segments may be dedicated roadway segmentswith a plurality of roadway segments (e.g. roadway segments 288 a-c). Asdiscussed in more detail below, the boarding zone may include aplurality of vehicle slots where passengers can board the vehicles.

In an example, the management systems (and their respective controllers)may communicate via communication channels 290. The communicationchannels 290 may be normal communication channels or exception enforcedcommunications. Each management system may include a controller (e.g.,controllers 292 a-c). Similarly, each AVPS may include a controller(e.g., controller 292 d). Additionally, each management system may inturn include one or more physical processors (e.g., CPU 294 a-f)communicatively coupled to memory devices (e.g., MD 296 a-g) andinput/output devices (e.g., I/O 298 a-d). As used herein, physicalprocessor or processor refers to a device capable of executinginstructions encoding arithmetic, logical, and/or I/O operations. In oneillustrative example, a processor may be a single core processor whichis typically capable of executing one instruction at a time (or processa single pipeline of instructions), or a multi-core processor which maysimultaneously execute multiple instructions. In another aspect, aprocessor may be implemented as a single integrated circuit, two or moreintegrated circuits, or may be a component of a multi-chip module (e.g.,in which individual microprocessor dies are included in a singleintegrated circuit package and hence share a single socket). A processormay also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU).

As discussed herein, a memory device (e.g., MD 296 a-g) refers to avolatile or non-volatile memory device, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, or anyother device capable of storing data. As discussed herein, I/O devicerefers to a device capable of providing an interface between one or moreprocessor pins and an external device capable of inputting and/oroutputting binary data.

Processors may be interconnected using a variety of techniques, rangingfrom a point-to-point processor interconnect, to a system area network,such as an Ethernet-based network. Local connections within each node,including the connections between a processor and a memory device may beprovided by one or more local buses of suitable architecture, forexample, peripheral component interconnect (PCI).

1.1.4 Information Set(s)

An example information set comprises one or more of the parameters andcontrol targets illustrated in the table below:

Transportation system target parameters, which define operational metrictargets that control system components operate in ways to optimize theiroperations toward  Trip time parameters, including   Historical triptime metrics (between endpoint pairs)   Trip time metrics targets(between endpoint pairs)  System capacity parameters, including  Historical system capacity metrics   System capacity metrics targets Passenger wait time parameters, including   Historical passenger waittime metrics (Summary, by time ranges,   and by boarding zone)  Passenger wait time metric targets (overall, by time ranges, and by  boarding zone)  Roadway parameters, which define operational metricsfor specific  roadway segments and sensing data, include:   One or moreroadway segment specific target parameter sets,   including    Roadwaysegment (or subroute) identifier    Time range for parameter set   Target velocity for vehicles on road segment    Target capacity   Target headway    One or more roadway segment cooperative operation   parameter sets   Roadway segment specific sensor data, including raw(e.g. images,   temperatures) and processed data (e.g. snow covered,blocked, etc.).   Roadway segment operational metrics (from areacontrollers)    Average Vehicle count (for time intervals)    AverageVehicle velocity (for time intervals, in    distance/time)    Vehiclecount (absolute count)    Average delay (wait) time (in seconds)Cooperative operation parameter set (global)   Shoaling parameters   Maximum shoal size (in vehicles)    Minimum intra-vehicle shoal gap(in seconds)    Minimum inter-vehicle shoal gap (in seconds) Vehicleoperational parameters   Request for transport information, includingstart point, endpoint   or destination, vehicle assigned, start time,end time,   passengers (# and ID)   Trip route information    Targetroute information, including start point, stop point,    roadway segmentinformation, and vehicle profiles.   Vehicle operating parameters, suchas velocity, intents, operating   metrics   Vehicle status parameters,such as occupied flag, charge state,   Operational metrics.1.1.5 Identity Management System

Some example systems described in the present disclosure are intended tosupport high density urban transport on an on-demand basis and as sucheach passenger who intends to use the system creates a reliable identityfor use with the example system. This identity is unique to a specificuser and may include for example biometrics (including but not limitedto face recognition), one or more tokens (for example RF ID), one ormore devices (for example smart phone), one or more credit cards orother financial instruments (including for example Apple pay and othertouchless payment systems) and/or other reliable, verifiable uniqueidentity information sets.

Advantageously, each potential user of the example system may establisha registered identity with an identity management system within thetransportation system or an external identity management system that isfederated with the transportation system. The user and passengeridentity information is managed by this identity management system. Suchan identity may include:

-   -   Sufficient identification characteristics to enable a vehicle        and/or infrastructure to recognize such a passenger. Example        identification may include a face recognition scan or other        biometric information set, an identity representation from an        authorized source, e.g., government/corporate ID, etc.    -   One or physical and/or virtual articles for exchanging value        with the billing systems, e.g., a credit/debit card, stored        value account, issued or recognized voucher/coupon, authorized        third party ledger system, etc.    -   One or more device, token or other physical entity that may be        recognized by the vehicle and/or infrastructure (for example        smart phone, secure token with communications capability, RFID,        etc.)    -   User preferences as a passenger, such as vehicle type,        entertainment system settings, and the like.

Such registered identity information may also include information aboutrelationships to other passengers, for example a family, friends,business colleagues and the like.

1.1.6 System Security

The example system may use cryptographic techniques to ensure theindividual and overall security of the system and the componentsthereof. In some embodiments, this includes, but is not limited to:

-   -   Vehicle rolling chassis and components thereof (e.g. propulsion,        braking, energy and the like)    -   Vehicle control systems and associated API's    -   AVPS    -   Vehicle sensor systems (from raw sensor data through all        processing)    -   Vehicle information systems (system-wide and personalized)    -   Vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to control system component        communications (end to end secured communications)    -   Information repositories    -   System infrastructure

Embedding unique cryptographic signatures throughout an example systemfrom the basic components of each vehicle through all the componentsthat comprise an example vehicle may advantageously ensure the securityand integrity of the system. For example, the use of one or more digitalidentifiers for each vehicle component, for example an electric motorcontroller may have a digital signature, using standard cryptographictechniques and technologies, such that there is a non-repudiatableunique identity for that component. Thus, the manifest of a vehiclescomponents may be initialized and retained by, for example an AVPS andmay be then recorded into a suitable irrefutable repository, for examplea blockchain or similar record.

Security may be enforced, in part through the use of appropriateisolation, for example keeping AVPS and passenger entertainment andcommunication systems isolated from each other), the use where practicalof secure processors (or those capable of supporting separate processingfor secure and non-secure operations, such as ARM SOC and/or Intel SGXenabled processors). Communications throughout the system may be securedthrough TLS/SSL, for example to AES 128/256 bit standards, with separatekey management for safety and redundancy systems where appropriate.Information repositories may use one or more standard cryptographictechniques to protect information when in transit and/or at rest.

1.2 Example Roadway Infrastructure

One example embodiment described herein is an integrated set of roadwayinfrastructure elements that together form a high density urbantransport solution. In the example roadway, in whole or in part, some orall of the individual infrastructure elements may be encoded so that itcan be recognized as unique by vehicles and control system components.This integration of specialized encoding at multiple levels, isconfigured to support sensing sets of different types by differentvehicles. This configuration may support a redundant safety regime andhighly accurate navigation and positioning to create an integrated highcapacity personalized transport solution.

The width of a roadway segment travel lane is called the gauge.Optionally, a subset of the interconnected roadways may have sufficientwidth to allow multiple vehicles to travel in parallel in the samedirection.

An example system may further have roadway segments that are marked witha machine readable location information.

1.2.1 Prefabricated Infrastructure

The example system may include one or more roadway infrastructureelements (the actual roadway itself) that are prefabricated, such thatthey may be combined and erected on site within a short space of time inorder to create an example separated roadway segment and associatedinfrastructure elements. In some embodiments, each of thesepre-fabricated roadway elements may be serialized and include one ormore indicia suitable for recognition by one or more vehicles whentransiting such a roadway element. Pre-fabricated roadway elements mayalso include reciprocal shapes facilitating connection of the roadwayelements to each other (i.e. lego blocks/Marklin tracks) as well ascavities and other provision to support cable tunnels, wiring, fresh andwaste water piping, radio base stations and other such facilities.

When deployed, such pre-fabricated roadway elements may be mapped so asto create the appropriate geo blocks for use by one or more controlsystem components. Such pre-fabricated roadway elements may bepositioned such that the physical location is further encoded into sucha roadway element, which may then be communicated to vehicles transitingthe roadway element as well as control system components managing suchtransits.

These pre-fabricated roadway elements may include serialized identifierssuch that when connected together the sequence of serialized identifiersform a fiducial that is unique to a specific deployment environmentwhich vehicles traveling on those components may recognize. This permitsa vehicle to continue to operate autonomously by automaticallyidentifying its location on a roadway when operating conditions diminishsensor operation or inhibit communication with other control systemcomponents (e.g. heavy snow, fog).

1.2.2 Reduced Gauge Infrastructure

Gauge limitations improve costs of specific segments. The system mayhave some roadway segments gauge restricted (for example, a dedicatedsegment or set of dedicated segments may be gauge restricted). Gaugerestrictions may permit higher capacity operations in a limited physicalfootprint and may support adaptive reuse of the existing builtenvironment, such as reuse of an existing traffic lane as a virtualroadway segment supporting multiple lanes of lighter gauge traffic orsplitting an existing rails-to-trails structure currently used into apedestrian/bike path and a one lane narrow gauge segment. Each segmentmay be appropriate for the width of a single vehicle at a specifiedgauge, a plurality of vehicles at a specified gauge (e.g. multi-lane),or able to be used by vehicles of differing gauges.

1.2.3 Integration of Infrastructure

The roadway may include one or more systems to support vehicleoperations, including the provision of indelible information sourcesthat have geo coded or other unique information sets that may be used byvehicles and/or the control system components supporting suchoperations.

In some embodiments, a roadway may have an embedded information set, forexample an RFID tag, which provides a reference point for all vehiclestravelling on such a road way so as to indicate the location, position,edge, center or other reference point on such roadway.

An example roadway segment may incorporate other passive identifyingindicia, such as for example those that may be read by one or moresensor set, such as barcodes, undulations, markings and the like, thatare embedded in the construction of an infrastructure element. Theroadway indicia may include specific embedded elements that areoptimized, and potentially serialized, for one or more sensor sets, inorder to provide reference information. In some embodiments, theinformation set generated through recognition of these embeddedpositional information sets may be integrated with the information setsgenerated by active sensors on a vehicle, such that the combinedinformation set may be communicated to other control system components,such as area controllers, management systems, and/or other vehicles, inany arrangement.

In some embodiments, a roadway may have one or more markers, forexample, in the form of a grid or similar structured optical and/ornon-optical reflective or reactive materials. For example, a vehicle mayposition itself within the frame of reference determined, in part by theroadway and the infrastructure therein. For example, a vehicle mayinclude forward, left, right, 360 degree, upward and/or downward lookingsensors including optical and non-optical (e.g. RF, infrared,ultrasonic, sonar, radar, audio and the like), for example an IR camera.

In some embodiments, a physical (such as a curb) or logical barrier(such as a geo fence), may be installed at those locations wherevehicles and passengers interact closely, such as a boarding zone, wheresuch a curb may include locational information, such as throughembedding or reactive or reflective indicia.

In some embodiments, a roadway, such as a pre-fabricated roadwaysegment, may have multiple holes suitable for a geographic surveyingdevice(s) to be inserted, and when deployed each of these markers maythen be recorded and recorded in one or more repository. These holes maythen be filled by, for example, metal plugs, which when combined with anappropriate road marking scheme create an encoding scheme that vehiclesmay use for positioning and navigation. For example, such markings maybe undertaken using retro reflective paint and be created by a robotdesigned for such an activity.

FIG. 4 illustrates an encoded roadway 300, according to an exampleembodiment of the present disclosure. An (x,y) position may be obtainedfrom a combination of downward-facing camera data, for example, from asensor or camera 310 a-f, that reads markings 312 on the roadway, withinertial data. Road segment and/or infrastructure markings may bedistinct and uniquely identified in a lookup database giving true andexact positions. From the database, the vehicle (e.g., vehicle(s) 112a-c) knows the precise position of the marking, and by inference, itsown position. Wheel rotation data may be used to interpolate betweenmarkings. It will be appreciated that markings may be placed to a ±1 cmaccuracy, combined with reading to ±1 cm accuracy, may yield an overallpositional accuracy of approximately ±2 cm.

Some embodiments may include roadway and infrastructure encoding thatprovides for different sensing technologies differing returns, which mayalso represent differing information sets, for example one may have anencoded geographic location, another a relative roadway maker (forexample) “Kilometer 6 on roadway 123” and the like.

1.2.4 Mapping

In the example system, the roadway may be mapped to a high degree ofaccuracy using multiple mapping technologies, including GSSN, landsurvey, radar survey, Lidar survey, optical survey, audio surveytechniques to establish a comprehensive integrated map of the roadwayand infrastructure elements. The accuracy of these mappings mayadvantageously be to an accuracy of ±1 cm. The physical infrastructureelements may be represented in a geographic information system or othersystem in great detail, but such forms may be inconvenient for real timecontrol operations. As discussed herein, the physical ground (and itsassociated information) may be quantized into blocks, termed here GeoBlocks, which are associated with the mapped and surveyed properties ofthe actual ground, in a more quantized representation.

In some example embodiments, the granularity of the standard vehicle maybe used to determine the appropriate granularity for that mapping. Forexample, a mapped Geo block may be sized so that it is sufficientlylarge to include one vehicle at some point in time. The mapping mayprovide a set of relationships between the underlying physicalenvironment, such as the roadway itself, and the potential and actualphysical locations of vehicles. Each of the geo blocks may include a setof relationships between the perimeter, center-line or other dimensionalcharacteristic of the geo block and the physical environment which itrepresents. For example, a boundary of the physical environment, such asa wall, fence or other form of separation that are deployed to delineatethe roadway from the surrounding environment may have a specific set ofrelationships with one or more geo blocks, which may include forexample, wayside infrastructure elements that include sensor detectableunique identifiers and other indicia. For example, if a geo block is onea straight section of roadway, there may be a set of informationcharacterizing the walls that are beside such a roadway, both in termsof perimeter and center-line, such that a vehicle may use suchinformation for navigation and positioning.

For example, such a block may comprise a vehicle width plus, a sidebuffer, for example, 20 cm to 30 cm on each side, and a vehicle lengthplus an end buffer, for example 50 cm at each end. In this manner, ablock can be said to “contain” one vehicle. Such blocks may be anyshape, for example a curve may be mapped with dimensions thataccommodate a single vehicle (and the block comprising such a vehicle)at rest.

For example, FIG. 5A illustrates an example of a standard logical block320 and FIG. 5B illustrates an example of an associated attribute set330 based on a standard vehicle. A standard logical block 320 may besized sufficient to encapsulate a standard vehicle at rest withappropriate clearances so that vehicles in adjacent blocks never touch,even under adverse conditions. While blocks are described in theillustration as rectangular or near rectangular (e.g. with roundedcorners), the disclosed system may also include irregular shaped blocks,curved blocks with varying radii, and boarding/disembarking zone blocks,as well as other shapes, as may be useful for controlling the system. Anattribute set 330 associated with a logical block may include a uniqueidentifier 332 a, dimensions 332 b (e.g., length, breadth, height,perimeter), time 332 c, including a range or relative time when thelogical block may be in a particular state, e.g., as part of an expectedvehicle path, vehicle position 332 d (e.g., physical or relativeposition), vehicle occupancy 332 e (including whole or partialoccupancy, which might be expressed, e.g., as a ratio), velocity profile332 f including vehicle acceleration, deceleration, and/or cruise statusfor a vehicle in the block, context information 332 g, indicating theassociation of vehicles with particular blocks, reservation status 332h, indicating when a particular block will be reserved for occupancy,and availability 332 j of a logical block at a particular time orlocation.

FIG. 6A illustrates the occupation of a standard logical block 320 by avehicle 112. Each vehicle 112 can have a pre-defined buffer space 340around the vehicle 112, which determines the minimum distance that suchvehicle 112 can have from an adjacent vehicle and/or the edge of aroadway. A block may be sufficient to encapsulate a vehicle withsufficient buffer space such that vehicles in tow adjacent blocks thatremain within their block boundaries will not touch. FIG. 6B illustratesinformation associated with a standard logical block 320. In addition toa position, additional information can be associated with the logicalblock, e.g., vehicle velocity or acceleration, roadway tractioncoefficient (which may be calculated dynamically). The information maybe shared with nearby vehicles, e.g., by an area controller. Forexample, velocity/acceleration information 350, traversing information260, and positional information may be associated with the logic block.

A Geo block (geographic block) may be a uniquely identifiedrepresentation of a specific physical roadway segment that has beenmapped so as to create an accurate representation in one or more formatscompatible with vehicles and control systems. A roadway may be mappedand divided into discrete geographic blocks, which represent a specificsegment of such roadway and include the following characteristics:width, length, height, altitude/depth, radius, perimeter and at leastone center-line 322. It will be appreciated other information may alsobe associated with a geographic block. For example, if the roadway isstraight, then the geo block representing a part of that roadway can bea rectangle, the dimensions of which may be a standardized geo block,corresponding to the size of a standard vehicle plus sufficient bufferarea for a boundary area to provide separation from other vehicles.There may also be a temporal set of characteristics for each geo block,where one or more clocks, including those of the transportation systeminfrastructure, management system, and control systems, may timestampthe block, and the operations thereof. For example, a geo block, whichhas a fixed relationship with the underlying physical environment, mayuse such timing information, in whole or in part, to assist in thedetermination of the availability of such a block to a schedulingsystem. For example, if a geo block is occupied by a vehicle at rest,for example one parked in a low peak period, such information may beused to indicate the unavailability of the block and the vehicle, andperhaps the expected duration of that unavailability. In this manner,such a block, which when occupied by a vehicle is labeled as an occupiedblock, may then have a relationship to a roadway that has certaindimensions and geographic features. For example, a roadway capable ofsupporting one or more vehicles traveling on such roadway may beexpressed as a set of geographic blocks each of which is fixed ingeography (for example a specified location, for example using surveyingtechniques, including cartographically mapped and uniquely identifiedfeatures), such that for example the roadway comprises a set of uniquelyidentified blocks in an arrangement that represents a roadway.

Roadways may include constant radius turns, where one or more geo blocksare mapped to that curve such that each geo block may, contain onevehicle when a vehicle is present or transiting that block. For example,for a roadway capable of carrying multiple vehicles in parallel, theremay be an equivalent number of geo blocks representing that curve.

In some embodiments where the example system of the present disclosureis provided using existing roadway, for example in a city centerboarding zone, each of these physical environments will also be mapped.It will be appreciated that, though often the physical environment mayinclude irregular areas, the physical environments can be mapped on thesame basis, that is that they are able to contain one example vehicle atrest when fully occupied.

A block may in some embodiments; comprise a set of dimensions comprisinglength, width, height and perimeter measured in, for example, meters.Blocks may have fixed dimensions (fixed block) or dynamic dimensions(dynamic block). A fixed block may be geographic, for example related toa roadway and/or vehicle based, for example for a single or multipleoccupant vehicle, repair or maintenance vehicle, freight vehicle and/orthe like. A dynamic block may have dimensions that are related to thevelocity of a vehicle, or a set thereof, a distance related to theacceleration or deceleration of a vehicle, and/or other dimensions thatare related to the dynamics of vehicle and/or supporting systemoperations. For example, for a set of vehicles, where for example thevehicles are physically or logically connected, the dynamic block maycomprise the complete transit route of those vehicles from their originpoint(s) to destination point(s).

Blocks may be typed, such as where the block is geographic it mayexpressed in one or more notations, for example, of the formB-G-(UID)—(location XYZ)—where B designates Block, G designates typeGeographic (Geo), UID is a unique to at least that deployment identifierand Location XYZ is the associate physical location expressed usingstandard locational descriptors, for example latitude/longitude (e.g.GSSN) coordinates.

There may be situations where through feedback from the operations ofone or more vehicles, sections of physical roadway may not support theoperations of those vehicles to the degree specified, for example asection of roadway may be in need of resurfacing and consequently thedynamics of the vehicles operations, for example acceleration and/ordeceleration (braking) may be adjusted to account for thosecircumstances. In such as example the geo block associated with thatphysical segment of roadway may be modified, for example extended, so asto normalize the behavior of the vehicle in terms of travel over groundas expressed by a control software system.

Information sets generated during the use of Geo blocks may be used indiffering physical locations, for example a bridge in a physicallocation A may provide traffic and/or other management systems with aninformation set that may be deployed in location B with a similarbridge.

Geo blocks may preferably be sized so that they have only one vehiclethat fully occupies a particular Geo block at one time. Such fulloccupation precludes another vehicle entering that block, until, atleast in part, the vehicle occupying that Geo block has started to leavethat block. For example, for operations where a vehicle entered a Geoblock from the rear whilst a vehicle that had previously occupied thewhole Geo block was leaving by the front, then the Geo block may,subject to the distance agreed and/or specified between the vehicles(and potentially an area controller), contain temporarily two vehiclesin part.

When referencing the position P of a vehicle entering or leaving a Geoblock B, this can be expressed as, for example, BP (BlockPosition)=V(uid) 0.37 {B-G-(UID)-(location XYZ)}, meaning vehicle's XYZcenter-point has advanced 0.37% into referenced geo block B along itscenterline.

It will be appreciated that, in some example embodiments, a system mayhave multiple levels, for example when fitted into an existing tunnel ofa subway or other tunnel, where each geo block has a depth from aspecified position, and consequently has a unique identifier sufficientto distinguish two blocks with the same horizontal location, butdiffering depths.

FIG. 7 illustrates relationships between the layers of blocksrepresenting a roadway, according to an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure. At the lowest level, the actual physical ground orroadway 410 may be surveyed, mapped, and possibly labeled eitheroptically, or using electronic approaches, such as RFID. At a nextlevel, the system may include a quantized map of geographic location,e.g., for use in by control system components. This map may be assembledfrom Geo blocks 420 that have associations with physical ground blocksand with higher level logical blocks 320. At the highest level, alogical block (e.g., logical block 320 a) represents vehicle flow, andmay be associated with or associated to multiple Geo blocks 420, e.g.,representing current and future positions of vehicles or vehicle flow.It will be appreciated, that while the blocks look similar in size onthe illustration, they need not be similarly sized, and also need not bein a 1:1 relationship, e.g., a single logical block 320 a may haveassociations with multiple geo blocks 420. In an example, each logicalblock 320 may have at least one profile active at a point in time.

1.2.5 3d-Radar Mapping

In some embodiments, the example roadway system may be mapped byradar/Lidar so as to create a 3D radar/Lidar map for the environment.Such mapping may include recognition of system infrastructure artifactsthat have been positioned specifically to provide such radar mappingwith identifiable landmarks. These landmarks example may be unique tothe system, providing a unique radar signature that may be used by avehicle to identify and/or confirm a location in support of thatvehicles' positioning and navigation.

Such a mapping may be employed, for example, in the form of a repositorystored by example on each vehicle. Each vehicle's radar sensors mayprovide navigation and position information to that vehicles AVPS.Should there be any variations detected by such processes, these may besent to an appropriate control system component, such as an areacontroller, and may be validated by other vehicle sensors, such ascameras, to determine whether the vehicle may need to take avoidance orother actions.

1.2.6 Feature Mapping

A complete example transportation system roadway and associatedinfrastructure elements are mapped in detail, for example to an accuracyof plus or minus 1 cm. Each feature in such an environment may beidentified and classified. The classification may enable sensors to moreaccurately and efficiently process incoming information sets. Thisapproach also supports providing machine learning systems, such as deeplearning with appropriate classified feature sets at multiple levels,which may then be used to refine and/or optimize sensor performance.

1.2.7 Mapping Granularity

The mapping of geo blocks may employ a number of approaches to creatingan appropriate granularity that supports locational positioning for theexample system. It will be appreciated that, because roadways may beseparated, mapping of the system roadway and associated infrastructureelements can be undertaken in a highly granular manner. The roadway andinfrastructure elements may be mapped in multiple frequency and timedomains, for example visual, audible, radar and/or other electromagneticfrequency and time domains.

Associated meta data may be provided for each mapped segment, forexample roadway conditions, such as snow, ice, water (standing and/orrunning), bumps or surface irregularities, spills of either liquid orsolid materials, or the like. Other roadway conditions may includeobstacles, such as barriers, holes, roadway deterioration states (forexample on a one to five scale, where five is the best road condition(e.g. least worn) and 1 is the worst (e.g. most worn), dead animals,rubbish and detritus (e.g. discarded cans, plastic bags and the like),blocked drainage and the like.

This mapping may be integrated into geo blocks and may associate withone or more vehicle operating profiles, for example Cruise/Merge/Demergeetc. Mapping may also be applied to boarding zones (both static anddynamic). The mapping may be considered, in part or in whole, indetermining the configurations of the vehicle operational profiles, forexample by variations in velocity, acceleration and the like.

1.3 Logical Blocks

In some embodiments, there may be a set of mappings based on logicalrepresentations of the underlying geo blocks, but which are synchronizedto one or more time clocks. These logical blocks form the “river” ofavailable capacity for vehicles to occupy at relevant velocities ofthose vehicles transiting a roadway, in the example system of thepresent disclosure.

Logical blocks provide a quantized perspective on the capacity of aspecific section or roadway represented as geo blocks, such as that forexample the rate of travel of a logical block. An available capacityunit capable of containing a standard example vehicle is in partdetermined by the velocity profile of that block. For example, in atrunk roadway segment this may be 50 kph, whereas in a city center whichincludes one or more slow speed or boarding zones this may be 25 Kph. Assuch the ratio of logical blocks to geo blocks may be different indifferent locations or different situations. This flow of logical blockscan provide the basis for a dynamic capacity model for a systemdeployment.

Logical blocks may also be inserted or removed from a flow of vehiclestransiting a set of logical blocks. For example, in an example, a flowof vehicles is travelling at 50 Kph, with an inter-vehicle distance of4.65 m. The vehicles in example stream may vary their velocity to createat a specific point in the flow, one or more further logical blocks. Thenew logical blocks may be made available to other vehicles. Thesevehicles may then use these blocks to enter the stream, for example whenvehicles are merging with that vehicle flow. This approach may also beused, when one or more distributor roadway segments are feeding into atrunk roadway segment. Once the merging vehicle has entered the flow,each of the other vehicles in proximity in that flow may then adjusttheir individual headway so as to maintain the continuous and optimizedflow of those vehicles.

A block may be occupied, in that it is said to “contain” a vehicle. Forexample a logical or Geo block may include a vehicle that, in whole orin part, is contained within the boundaries defined by such a block.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D illustrate relationships between a vehicle and ablock, showing a block fully occupied, and a vehicle entering andleaving a block. For example, FIG. 8A illustrates an example of avehicle 112 leaving a block 320. The rear of the vehicle may occupy aportion of the block with a block to vehicle ratio of 1:n (e.g., where nis the percentage of the block occupied). FIG. 8B illustrates andexample of vehicle 112 entering a block. The front of vehicle 112 mayoccupy a portion of the block with a block to vehicle ratio of 1:n(e.g., where n is the percentage of the block occupied). In an example,trailing edge ratios may be negative and leading edge ratios may bepositive. FIG. 8C illustrates and example of a vehicle fully occupying ablock where the block to vehicle ratio is 1:1. An anchor block 460 maybe a geo block 420 and/or a logical block 320. Additionally, block tovehicle ratio may include the edge of the block, which is being enteredor exited. For example, a ratio of 1:n may designate the entry by avehicle from the rear of a block.

Logical block arrangements may comprise sets of blocks, which can beidentical in dimensions, such as a standard logical block based on thedimensions of a standard vehicle. There may also be other types ofblocks. For example, a headway logical block, may have dimensions thatare equal to the inter vehicle distance determined for a specificvelocity. Other types of logical blocks may include, for example,constant radius curve logical blocks, merge and demerge logical blocks,deceleration and acceleration logical blocks (for example those used inboarding zones), etc. In some embodiments, logical blocks may bedynamic, such that their dimensions are adjusted to suit a specific setof operating conditions. For example, logical block sizes may be adaptedto conform to a size determined to provide optimum integration oftraffic flows, for example, when a distributor roadway segment ismerging with a trunk roadway segment. In response to congestion, or toallow merging logical blocks may shrink and speed or velocity may beadjusted.

In some embodiments, logical blocks may have associated profiles, whichexpress the velocity and acceleration/deceleration characteristics ofthat logical block. For example, a logical block may have an associatedcruise profile, merge profile, boarding zone profile and the like.

1.4 Block Profiles

Each logical block may have an operating profile, which expresses theoperating parameters of that block. For example, a block may have acruise profile, where the velocity of the block is 50 kph. Such aprofile may be used, in some embodiments, to provide a target set ofconditions for a vehicle attempting to synchronize with that logicalblock.

FIG. 9 illustrates example vehicle profiles 460 arranged by increasingspeed. For example, block profiles may include:

Cruise profile 462: Set at a specific constant speed with some variancefor maneuvers and control system parameterization provided in one ormore information sets. For example, cruise speed may be 50 Kph with ±10%for adjusting to a vehicles position, for example, when other vehiclesare merging. In dense inner city environments with multiple boardingzones, cruise speed may be set at 25 Kph to account for the high numberof merge/demerge maneuvers being undertaken.

Traverse profile 464: A vehicle traversing may need to adjust its speedto enable the vehicle to, for example, traverse a roadway from the leftmost boundary to the right most boundary. The traverse may be needed,for example, to exit the trunk roadway segment onto a distributorroadway segment. Velocity and acceleration/deceleration may be variedwithin a specified performance envelope so as to achieve this maneuver.The traverse may be undertaken in cooperation with the other vehicles inthe flow. Such a maneuver may be initiated and/or controlled by thevehicle itself and/or by an area controller.

Merge/Demerge profile 466: A vehicle enters or leaves a flow ofvehicles, which typically may be traveling at cruise profile. Forexample, a demerge may be used to allow a vehicle to demerge from atrunk route so that a passenger may alight at their destination.Alternatively, a merge may occur when a passenger has occupied a vehicleand that vehicle now merges with a traffic flow so as to take thepassenger to their destination.

Start/Stop profile 468: A vehicle is entering/leaving a boarding zone sothat a passenger may board or alight from the vehicle.

Stationary profile 470: The vehicle is at rest and may be waiting for apassenger. While waiting, the power use configuration may be reduced,but still set at a level to enable passenger recognition and entry. Thevehicle may be parked at a location awaiting the receipt of additionalinformation sets, which may comprise additional control systeminstructions, in which case it can enter a quiescent state in order tosave energy until it receives additional information sets from anauthorized area controller.

Each of these profiles may consist of a set of configurations for thevehicle operations, including velocity, acceleration/deceleration,passenger experienced G force, energy consumption, positional anddirection change and the like.

These profiles may be combined to create a journey from an origin pointto a destination point. For example, an example journey may include thefollowing profiles:

Stationary (Embark): Start (leave boarding zone): Merge (enter vehicleflow—e.g. Trunk or distributor roadway segment): Cruise: Demerge (exittrunk or distributor roadway segment): Stop (enter boarding zone):Stationary (disembark).

The vehicle may operate a set of contextual synchronization andharmonization operating conditions set (CSHOCS), where each profile hasa CSHOCS and there is an overall CSHOCS that governs the overalljourney. In some embodiments, a control system component, such as anarea controller, may supply one or all of the parameters and/or theCSHOCS to the vehicle as part of an information set that is communicatedto the vehicle such that the vehicle may undertake the relevantoperations.

1.5 Vehicles and Adjacent Blocks

A vehicle may occupy a logical block, and the vehicle may be moving. Forexample, occupied logical block may be transiting geo blocks at avelocity. Thus, the vehicle ma be surrounded by adjacent logical blocksthat may contain other vehicles. The blocks that are directly adjacentto the vehicle are said to be contestable blocks, in that any vehicleentering that block can only do so if the vehicle has the right to do soand that block or section thereof to be entered is not occupied byanother vehicle. FIG. 11 illustrates a series of blocks 612, one ofwhich is occupied by a vehicle (V1) and examples of the potential rulesets associated with those blocks for a second vehicle (V2) that mayattempt to enter those blocks. Blocks which are contextual to a specificvehicle, but are not occupied by that vehicle may be defined as“contestable”, which is illustrated as a B(C) block. The reach of avehicle's awareness may depend on the velocity, direction and distancefrom a vehicle block B(V1) as well as information sets from othervehicles, infrastructure and/or control system(s). In the illustratedexample, each block adjacent to B(V1) has a contextual relationship withB(V1) and each other, thereby representing potential movements by avehicle (e.g., block B(V1)) and potentially other vehicles.

Each block may have an associate rule set. For example, block 612 a mayhave an associated rule set that V1 may enter after informing allvehicles within (n) blocks of the proposed direction change. Block 612 bmay have an associated rule set that either V1 or V2 may enter, but notboth. Additionally, block 612 c may have an associated rule set thatanother vehicle (e.g., V2) may enter, but V2 may not exit block 612 cinto B(V1).

In some circumstances a block may have two vehicles which are partiallyoccupying that block, for example when a vehicle is entering a blockwhilst another is leaving. For example, if the relative distance betweenthe vehicles remains constant, then such a maneuver may be undertakensafely. For example, two vehicles may simultaneously occupy a singleblock, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.Additionally, a vehicle may simultaneously occupy multiple blocks, asillustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B where the rear of vehicle 112 occupiesone block while the front of the vehicle 112 occupies another block.

A geo block may “contain” a vehicle, for example expressed as(V(UID))-Vehicle with unique identifier. Each vehicle may havesufficient situational awareness to identify, though deterministicsensor based inputs and/or through information sets provided by othervehicles and/or area controllers, the relative positions of othervehicles in relation to it. In this manner, a vehicle which is containedby a logical block, which may be notated (B-V) or B(V), may move acrossa roadway (comprising sets of geo-blocks B-G or B(G)) at a specifiedvelocity and/acceleration/deceleration.

This creates a layer model where the relationships between thegeo-blocks B-G and logical block B-V may be specified both in absoluteand relative terms. In some embodiments, such relationships may beexpressed as probabilities in terms of scheduling the relationshipbetween one or more logical blocks B-V and one or more geo blocks B-G.

It will be appreciated, there may be multiple layers of intersectingblocks. For example, a dynamic block may include at least one vehiclewhich is traversing a roadway by moving from the left to the right, forexample to demerge from a flow of vehicles. This dynamic block maycomprise a set of blocks of a fixed size for example a logical block B-Vin the center with a further logical block connected to each side of B-Vlogical block. A similar approach may be used for those vehicles thatare merging with the stream. In this manner, an “exclusion zone”, may becreated dynamically. The logical blocks in the exclusion zone may benotated as B-E (Block Exclusion) for that vehicle. When the vehicle istraversing from one geo-block to another, the exclusion zone may be usedto calculate the potential for intersection with another vehicle wantingto, or occupying that B-G.

Each block has a set of characteristics. The characteristics may includethe dimensions of the block. Another characteristic is the leading edge.The leading edge of the block may be assigned depending on the directionof travel. The designation of the perimeter edges of a block may changein accordance with the vehicle's direction of travel. For example, ablock containing a vehicle has edges that may change designation basedon steering profile and direction of that vehicle. For example a sideedge may become leading when the vehicle is moving sideways, which mayoccur, for example, with“4 wheel” steering vehicles.

1.6 Boarding Zones

A boarding zone is a location in the system where passengers may joinwith a vehicle or leave a vehicle safely.

1.6.1 Boarding Zone Controller

A boarding zone controller and its associated management system (BMS)manages the vehicle and passenger flows within a boarding zone and inthe area around a boarding zone.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example boarding zone 500. For example, aboarding zone may include one or more vehicle slots 505 that areconfigured to allow a vehicle to park in the vehicle slot. Additionally,a boarding zone vehicle ingress region 506 and a boarding zone vehicleegress region 507 may be connected to each vehicle slot. The boardingzone vehicle ingress region 506 and the boarding zone vehicle egressregion 507 connect the roadway segments of a dedicated roadway segmentto the vehicle slots. The boarding zone 500 may also include a passengerboarding zone 501, which may be a geographically delineated area withone or more outer geo-zones (for example an outer zone 502 and innerzone 503) and a vehicle boarding geo-zone 504. Passengers may travelthrough the passenger boarding zone 501 along a passenger vector 508.The passenger boarding zone 501 may be adjacent to the vehicle slot 505so that passengers can embark and/or disembark from vehicles parked orstanding in the vehicle slot.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, vehicles may communicate with a boarding zonemanagement system (“BMS”) and its associated boarding zone controller(“BZC”) once they are in proximity with the BMS and/or BZC. For example,there may be a communication boundary 510, 511 that vehicle crossesbefore communicating with a BZC. Additionally, a TMS may hand off thevehicle to the BMS once the vehicle approaches a boarding zone vehicleingress region. Similarly, the BMS may hand off the vehicle to theappropriate TMS as the vehicle exits a boarding zone vehicle egressregion to a roadway segment. In an example, a vehicle may be monitoredby one or more management systems at any given time such that the CMShas real-time information on the location of each vehicle in the vehicleflow.

Each of the passenger and vehicle interactions may involve a slack timecalculation, in that there is an available time for the synchronizationof the assignment of a vehicle to a passenger for a specific journey,which has been instantiated as an information set.

Passenger Identity Manager: This element identifies a passenger throughone or more techniques, including face, gait and/or other biometricrecognition, device recognition, passenger declaration (for exampleself-identification at a kiosk) and the like. This information set maybe used, in part to track the progress of a passenger to the boardingzone slots and subsequently to the assigned vehicle for their journey.For example, the geographically delineated area of the boarding zone mayinclude one or more sensors to allow recognition and monitoring ofpassengers. In an example, passenger recognition includes establishingthe location of the passenger through opt-in device based locationsystems, preferably through one of Bluetooth, RFID, and GPS.

Passenger Location Tracking: This includes establishing the location ofthe passenger, either through opt in device based location systemsand/or through self-declaration by the passenger at the time of theinteractions with reservation systems. Such information may be used inpart to determine which boarding zone a passenger is directed to, thelikely transit time for their travel to such a zone, and the directionfrom which the passengers approach such a zone.

Once a passenger has entered a boarding zone outer geo zone, theirpresence may be either detected by one or more passenger identificationsystems or they may announce their presence through interaction with atleast one kiosk or other boarding zone passenger management system. Forexample, they may possess a bar code, electronically or physically whichthey present or they may simply provide details of their reservation,such as a confirmation number or similar.

Kiosks 512 (as illustrated in FIG. 10) may be positioned in the outergeo zone of a boarding zone to permit those passengers who do not have adevice, have not preregistered their identity or may need to providefurther confirmation to establish their presence at a boarding zone forthe purpose of undertaking a pre-arranged journey.

A kiosk 512 may, in some embodiments, be able to recognize a passenger,provide a passenger with a printed bar code for a vehicle, accept avalue token or other stored value card, coordinate a passengertransaction for a passenger whose reservation was undertaken by anotherregistered system user and the like.

1.6.2 Boarding Zone Operations

In some embodiments, the matching of a vehicle to a user may involveemploying one or more matching algorithms, which involve the identitiesof both the vehicle and the user. For example, a user may presenthim/herself to a vehicle which has been pre-scheduled and pre-positionedfor that user, at a specified time period, and such pre-positioninginformation is made available to that user, and thus the match isachieved. This approach is suitable for conditions for example, wherethere are only a few people and few vehicles, such as for example aresidential area where the vehicle may be situated outside the usersaddress.

However, in a crowded area, for example where multiple people arepresent at a specific time, for example when a theatre empties, andthere may be multiple vehicles that have been scheduled to match to thatset of users, there is a need to determine the appropriate allocation ofvehicles to users in an efficient and user friendly manner.

In some embodiments, this may be achieved through the use of vehicleidentifiers, such as for example signage on the vehicle, indicatorsdirecting a specific user to a specific vehicle, recognition by avehicle, user characteristics detection such as via facial or movementfeatures other biometric characteristics, detection by the vehicle of anRF tag, Bluetooth signal and/or other electronic identifying signal,recognition of a bar code displayed on a passengers device and/or otheridentification approaches that enable such matching. For example, avehicle may send a specific passenger a message, which includes a set ofinstructions and/or indications, such as dots on a map, audible beeps,haptic indicators and/or other indicative information that enables apassenger to present themselves, and potentially their credentials tosuch a vehicle. In this manner, a set of vehicles may match to a set ofpassengers without requiring a specific vehicle to match to a specificpassenger.

In the situation where there is an extremely large number of passengersrequiring a large number of vehicles at a particular boarding zone (orset of boarding zones) in a short time period, for example when a sportsevent finishes, there may be a large set of vehicles that arepre-positioned in those one or more boarding zones, or activelytraversing roadway segments near those boarding zones, and using similarapproaches to those described herein so that each passenger or group ofpassengers may be allocated to a vehicle.

In certain situations there may also be a ‘turn up and go’ mode ofboarding zone operation, where authorized users present to a vehiclewithout prior booking, where the vehicle either departs immediately toan assumed yet unconfirmed destination, and the destination is confirmedby the user once the user is already in the vehicle.

In some embodiments, a user may be offered a more convenient vehicleallocation, for example, by optionally sharing the vehicle with anotheruser.

Contested areas are those boarding zones where there are vehicles andother entities, such as people or other non-system vehicles.

Boarding zones may be fixed at specific positions and/or may bedynamically located depending on availability of roadway and/or otherconsiderations.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process for handling boarding andde-boarding, according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure. FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified single curb double stackboarding zone 700, according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure. For example, at block 710, passenger load/unload isavailable for the dwell time of “vehicle A” (e.g., vehicle 112 a).Additionally, at block 712, passenger load/unload is available for thedwell time of “vehicle B” (e.g., vehicle 112 b). Vehicles (e.g.,vehicles 112 a-b) re-enter a cruise lane 720 after passengersload/unload. In the illustrated example, vehicles in the cruise lane 720travel at (x)Kph. FIG. 14 illustrates an example roundabout boardingzone 750, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.For example, boarding zones 760 a-d may be established around physicalstructures 762 a-e, such as buildings, walls, etc. to create aroundabout boarding zone 750. The various arrows in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14illustrated potential vehicle paths.

1.6.3 Example Passenger Interaction with a Boarding Zone and Vehicle

Identity management may be integrated with the transport request andboarding zone operations. The transport request identifies the expectedpassenger(s) for a transport request, and the boarding zone and vehiclemay then use that information to optimize the passengers interactionwith the system, reducing wait times and increasing passengerthroughput.

For example, a user may present themselves to a vehicle at a boardingzone, and the vehicle may use a camera mounted above the door to verifythe identity through face recognition, whilst communicating via shortrange radio, for example Bluetooth an information interchange with thatusers device, through for example an app on a mobile device, furthervalidation of the user. Such an information interchange may include oneor more sets of information for the personalization of the vehicle tothat specific user. Such interchange of information may commence beforea passenger arrives at a boarding zone, i.e. from the time and locationof booking and/or during the passenger's movement towards the boardingzone.

Once in a vehicle, a passenger may be observed by one or more cameras tovalidate that the user appearing at the door is the one occupying aseat. In the case of multiple passengers, each identity may be verified.If the passengers are not traveling as a group, as expressed in theirbooking, then one or more vehicle personalization configurations may bemodified or may have reduced or restricted availability.

In some embodiments, a passenger may be evaluated by one or more sensorsfitted inside the vehicle to, for example, establish their weight,height, other physical attributes and/or other characteristics. Suchinformation sets may be used for the adjustment of seating, vehicledynamics, vehicle environmental controls, safety and security and thelike.

Multiple vehicles may be provided for an associated request orreservation. For example, if a passenger has booked for a number ofpeople, for example, six (6) passengers, three two-person vehicles maybe provided for their journey. The assigned or provided vehicles,besides being grouped together physically for the journey may also begrouped together logically, such that inter vehicle ad hoc networks areinstantiated, enabling each of the passengers of the vehicles to be ableto communicate with each other over audio and video, including forexample, the provision and tracking of location information sets, forexample vehicle and passenger locations.

Vehicle control may require permission or be passenger specific. Forexample, if the passengers are a family with children, then the vehiclewhich has at least one parent may be able to control the communicationscapabilities of such ad hoc networks for each of these vehicles. Thephysical boarding and de-boarding of such linked vehicles may besynchronized by one or more area controllers, such as boarding zonemanagement systems, so as to ensure that the set of vehicles depart andarrive and sequential boarding slots to ensure close physical proximityof the passengers using these vehicles.

1.7 Example Vehicle

One example embodiment of the present disclosure includes a systemhaving multiple at least partially autonomous transportation vehiclesconfigured for passenger and/or freight payloads. An example deploymentmay also include service vehicles, for example such as vehicles suitableto clear snow or rubbish, monitor and maintain the road surface, providesecurity notices to people adjacent to limited access roadway, deal withbroken down vehicles, and other such auxiliary tasks.

Vehicles of the present disclosure operate independently andcooperatively to optimize the performance of the transportation system.

Each vehicle may have a rolling chassis which may comprise, apropulsion, traction and braking (including regenerative braking)system, steering mechanism(s), wheels, a passenger or freightcompartment with its own subsystems (e.g., HVAC; entertainment; powersupply independent of the powertrain power supply) and dedicated vehiclecontrol systems for the operation and interaction of these systems.Dedicated vehicle control systems may be provided, for example, forpropulsion, braking, battery and energy management, etc. These vehiclecontrol systems communicate with each other and with the AVPS describedherein. A vehicle is also fitted with a sensor array that includes thosesensors that are part of the rolling chassis and further sensors thatprovide position, navigation and situational information for the AVPS.There may also be sensor sets that monitor and evaluate the cabin of avehicle, such as cameras, microphones, weight detectors (for example ina seat and/or integrated into the axles), temperature and humiditysensors, luminance sensors and the like. These cabin sensors maycommunicate with an on-vehicle Human User Experience system (HUE).

Each of these systems is outlined in further detail herein.

An example vehicle, in some embodiments, may incorporate severaldistinct systems:

-   -   Vehicle Control systems—responsible for the movement and        management of the vehicle over ground    -   Vehicle Navigation and Positioning systems—responsible for the        management of the autonomous vehicle operations and including        the sensors for such management    -   Vehicle passenger systems—responsible for the vehicle passenger        comfort, entertainment, communications and the like.    -   AVPS—responsible for establishing and managing cooperative        communications between other AVPS, area controllers, and common        controller and their associated management systems, and        optionally, various external management systems.

A vehicle is fitted with an AVPS, which provides the overall controlfunctions for the cooperative operation of the vehicle. The AVPS maycommunicate with other vehicles AVPS(s) and one or more controllers inorder to create a fabric of command and control that operates in one ormore cooperative ways in order to optimize the transportation systemoperations. An AVPS may also integrate the vehicle control systems withthe vehicle navigation and positioning systems, creating an integratedsystem which can, through the use of standardized API's encompasssuitable rolling chassis platforms from multiple suppliers withdiffering performance specifications that are compatible with theoverall operations of the system. An AVPS further provides thecooperative operation modules, which implement the cooperative behaviorsof the AVPS.

AVPS equipped vehicles (called cooperative vehicles) may optionally beindividually configured to cooperate with another cooperative vehicle,such as one or more nearby vehicles in order to improve traffic flow byusing one or more of the cooperative operating techniques describedherein for interacting with nearby vehicles. Software components(programs) that implement the cooperative operation techniques are builtin to the AVPS. These cooperative operation components are parameterizedwith cooperation parameters from one or more information sets receivedby the vehicle. The cooperative operation programs, when executed by aprocessor of an AVPS, may cause the vehicle to operate cooperativelywith other vehicles in accordance with the currently receivedconfiguration parameters.

Cooperative operation between vehicles entails the following steps:

1. A first AVPS identifies, from sensor inputs or information sets, oneor more cooperative vehicles that are nearby. In an embodiment, nearbyis defined as being within sensor range of the first cooperativevehicle. In an alternative embodiment, nearby is defined as operatingunder the control of the same area controller, and sharing sensorinformation. In still another alternative embodiment, nearby is definedas being in communication with a vehicle so that information sets may becommunicated.

In some embodiments, the cooperative vehicles are identified in aninformation set that is sent to the one or more cooperative vehicles bya controller.

2. The AVPS establishes a secure communication link with each of theidentified vehicle (either directly or relayed through an areacontroller). The communication link may be one-to-one or one-to-many(broadcast). The communicating cooperative vehicles then communicatetheir intent to operate cooperatively and exchange (send and receive)information sets that specify the cooperative aspects they will operateunder.

3. The AVPS of each cooperative vehicle may integrate the cooperativeparameters from the newly received information set into its operatingparameters, and then may operate in the cooperative manner defined bythe information set specifications.

Cooperative vehicles, while in communication with each other and/or witha control system component and are operating in a cooperative manner,are called cooperating vehicles.

A cooperative vehicle may also cooperate with one or more control systemcomponents, such as an area controller that is responsible for managingthe operation of a portion of the infrastructure and the operation ofvehicles on that infrastructure. The cooperative operation between acooperative vehicle and an area controller entails the following steps:

1. The area controller identifies the cooperative vehicle, either from asensor, from a communication from the cooperative vehicle, and/or from acommunication received from another area controller.

2. The area controller establishes secure communication with thecooperative vehicle, and provides the cooperative vehicle with aninformation set comprising parameters for the operation of the vehiclewhile the vehicle is operating under the control of the area controller.

3. The cooperative vehicle reports its operating information (e.g.velocity, intents, vehicles that the vehicle is cooperating with) to thearea controller on a periodic basis.

An example vehicle information system architecture is illustrated inFIG. 15, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.As illustrated in FIG. 15, control communications 802 may becommunicated to vehicle control systems 404 and vehicle integritysystems 820. The vehicle control systems may include various modulesincluding a command & control module 806, a safety and assurance module808, and a personalization module 810. The vehicle control system 804may also include security systems 812 including vehicle systems 814, podsystems 816, and communication systems 818. The vehicle integritysystems 820 may include a vehicle mission critical module 822 and asystem essential module 824.

External interface systems 826 may include a personalized profile module830 and/or an environment and entertainment module 830. The informationfrom the modules may be communicated over the internet or othercommunication module 805. The vehicle information system architecturemay also include vehicle equipment 832, such as a pod location broadcast(PLB) transceiver 834, a wireless radio 836, a camera and/or sensor 838(e.g., radar, sonar, etc.), and inertial reference systems 840. Thevehicle may also have operational modules including a propulsion module842, a braking module 844, a control system modules 846, steeringmodules 848, a battery management system modules 850, a charging module852, traction and monitoring module 854, a communication system module858, a security module 860, a navigation system module 862, and a powermanagement module 864. The vehicle may also have an infotainment module868, a lighting module 870, and a cabin HVAC module 872. The vehicleinformation system architecture may include additional vehicle basedsafety systems 880.

Example vehicles may include one or more solar generating panels thatare integrated into the vehicle, for example on the vehicle roof.

1.7.1 Vehicle Type

Individual passenger vehicles in the example system may include:

-   -   Electro optically variable transparency windows    -   Large scale screens—potentially limiting forward        vision—potentially replacing forward-facing window (since the        vehicle operates autonomously)    -   Integrated power probe/receptacle for automatic energy transfer        without human intervention—    -   Occupant sensing capabilities    -   Occupant communication and device integration capabilities    -   Occupant specific information sets and management thereof    -   Variable seat orientation Face forward/back/side    -   Vehicle to infrastructure communications    -   Vehicle to area controller communications    -   Vehicle to vehicle communications    -   Vehicle to CMS communications    -   Vehicle interior sensors    -   Vehicle exterior sensors    -   Vehicle mechanical fail safe capabilities in support of graceful        failover

In addition to passengers, vehicles may be integrated into the system tocarry cargo or freight. Freight systems may include:

-   -   Pallets for freight    -   Seat compatible freight management systems    -   Removable seats    -   Removable vehicle bodies    -   Specialist freight handling systems    -   Mail and other package delivery systems    -   Customizable freight transport cabins        1.7.2 Vehicle Size

Example vehicles may be made in different sizes in order to optimize thevehicle to its assigned task. Reducing the size of vehicles savesconstruction and operational costs. The size of the vehicle may varydepending upon the payload it is designed to carry and the type ofroadway segments it operates upon.

1.7.3 Passenger Vehicle Embodiments

In some embodiments, example vehicles are configured for one or twopeople, as the average vehicle passenger load is only one or two people.In other embodiments, example vehicles may have space for four, six, oreven eight passengers.

In some embodiments, example vehicles are the regular width of regularpassenger vehicles or trucks. In other embodiments, example vehicles areof reduced size, having an inside width of at least 32 inches (the widthof a standard wheelchair) and a maximum outside width of approximatelyhalf of a standard lane width, which varies between nine to fifteen feet(9 feet-15 feet) in the USA, and between eight to eleven feet (8 feet-11feet) in Europe.

Example configurations of a narrow gauge vehicle may alter the seatingarrangement of passengers in these vehicles. For example, a vehicle thathas seating for four passengers may place the passengers one behind theother instead of the two-across, two deep seating of standardautomobiles.

1.7.4 Freight Vehicle Embodiments

1.7.4.1 Vehicle Pallets

In some embodiments vehicles, may have interchangeable passengercompartments and freight compartments. For example, a vehicle that has atwo-person passenger compartment may have a two-unit freight capability,for example, where each freight unit is a standardized freight pallet orcontainer. For example, such a freight unit may comprise a 1 m cube,which can be made of aluminum or other lightweight material and mayinclude one or more locking features to support automated and/orauthorized loading and unloading of such pallets. There may bespecialized pallets for specific purposes, such as carrying water,energy, medical supplies and the like. Specialized pallets may be sizedto fit ‘snug’ inside a passenger compartment.

1.7.4.2 Roll on Roll Off Pallets

In some example vehicles, a rolling chassis 902 may include lockingmechanisms 904 that hold freight containers 906 in place, including forexample those with inbuilt wheels (e.g., container wheels 908). Suchfreight containers 906 may then be released from the rolling chassis 902by, for example, manual human intervention or with an automatic system(e.g., an electronically controlled lever or other device that releasesany locking mechanisms on the rolling chassis and then initiatesmovement of a freight container off the chassis) in the direction 908 ofthe platform or container holding area 910 for unloading. This unloadingand loading may be at front, rear on top of or either side of therolling chassis. FIG. 16 illustrates an example roll-on roll-off freightcontainer system 900 for use in an example transportation system. In anexample, a vehicle freight container 906 may include wheel sockets 912so that multiple freight containers 906 can be stacked or interlockedtogether.

The vehicles may then clear the loading dock in an efficient manner aseach freight container is removed from the vehicles, manually or throughthe use of automation.

Each container may have one or more compartments, which in someembodiments require authenticated identities of one or more types (forexample devices, tokens, identity recognition systems and the like), fora user, system or other autonomous system to access the contents of thefreight container. Some loading areas may have locking capabilities suchthat only with appropriate authorization may the freight container beremoved from such locking.

1.7.4.3 Freight Systems for Delivery of Mail Packages

In some embodiments, a rolling chassis 902 may have a freight container906 and a robotic device mounted, such that for example the container906 may have multiple compartments each of which contain packages, mailor other contents that are to be delivered to specific locations, forexample a mail box, where the robotic device may select the contents ofthe container and place it in an appropriate receptacle, for example amailbox. In some embodiments vehicle may act to deliver freight tospecified locations with vehicle sensors providing access control forauthorized access to such freight.

In some embodiments, an example vehicle may be used for baggage that isnot accompanied by a passenger, where the identity of the passenger isknown to the example system and the relevant security evaluations havebeen undertaken.

1.7.5 Vehicle Rolling Chassis Systems

Example vehicles may employ electric propulsion and associated energysupply and regeneration systems with integrated braking, integratedcontrollers, and operating management systems. These systems areavailable as “off the shelf” components with a number of suppliersproviding integrated platforms. These platforms may include sensor setsfor monitoring and management of these sub systems and providecommunications capabilities for the integration of these platforms withthe example systems. Several “off the shelf” components (e.g., OTS 835a-e) may be used in association with the vehicle equipment 832 of FIG.15.

1.7.6 Vehicle Sensor Systems

Each vehicle may have one or more sensor sets, which enable the vehicleto position itself accurately in the frame of reference of atransportation system roadway and infrastructure, such that the vehiclemay operate as integral part of an urban transport system. FIG. 17illustrates some of the potential sensor configurations on an examplevehicle. For example, the sensor configurations may provide aninterleaving coverage from various sensor packs 920 a-c.

In some embodiments, vehicles may have one or more sensors, includingfor example, cameras, microphones, tactile and other physical presencesensors (for example pressure sensors in vehicle seats and/or axlescapable of mass measurement), motion detectors, light sensitive sensorsand or other environmental and/or biometric sensing apparatus.

In an example system, each vehicle may be fitted with a set of sensorsthat enable that vehicle to autonomously transit the roadway. This mayinclude, but is not limited to cameras, microphones, radar, Lidar,ultrasound, infra-red, RF and other optical and/or electromagneticsensors and emitters.

For example, a vehicle may have a downward-facing camera that capturespre-positioned markings, for example a grid, on the road surface thatenable the vehicle, employing recognition of, for example binary statescreated by retro reflective paint and using an IR camera at anappropriate capture rate, and for the vehicle to make a determination asto its location on the basis of the sensor reading.

This information may be complimented by other sensors, such as radar,radio, line of sight, markings on the roadway and/or otherinfrastructure that, when evaluated, provide the vehicle with an exactlocation of each of its extremities, speed, heading and other vital geodata.

These sensors may operate independently and/or in collaborationproviding multiple verifiable information sets that provide the vehiclewith sufficient information so as to be able to undertake the operationsintended.

Each sensor set may include sensors that are part of the vehicle rollingchassis and propulsion systems, such as for example motor, brake, energyand the like control system information sets. Such information sets maybe integrated into the vehicle sensor information sets which are managedby a vehicle AVPS.

Each vehicle may include one or more navigation and positioning systems,such as reference systems, GNNS, inertial reference navigation systems,gyroscopes, radio frequency based positioning (such as for example fromcell towers), vehicle to vehicle positioning (for example using vehiclesensor packs), vehicle to infrastructure positioning (for example usingroadway indicators, markings (including those optimized for one or moresensors), grids and other infrastructure incorporated indicia (includingencoded roadways using visible and non-visible reflective markings,physical surface artifacts (for example indentations and projections)that may be optimized for specific sensor set information set generation(which for example may be serialized so as to create unique to aspecific roadway/system deployment identifiers).

As illustrated in FIG. 17, a vehicle 112 may include a rear sensor pack920 a. The rear sensor pack 920 a may include a camera and/orrear-facing Lidar/radar/IR sensors. Additionally, the vehicle 112 mayinclude an under vehicle sensor pack 920 b. The under vehicle sensorpack 920 b may include a microphone facing forward, a microphone facingthe rear of the vehicle, a microphone facing down as well as a camerafacing down. Similar to the rear sensor pack 920 a, the vehicle 112 mayalso include a front sensor pack 920 c. The front sensor pack mayinclude a camera facing forward. The cameras may include forward and/ordown facing Lidar/radar/IR. Additionally, side cameras or side sensorpacks may be used for other vehicle and/or infrastructure recognitionand tracking. Additionally, the side cameras or side sensor packs may beused for passenger recognition.

1.7.6.1 Sensor Sharing

The vehicle controller operates using sensor inputs, either from thosesensors that are part of the vehicle, from external sensor data that isprovided to the vehicle by an external source, or from a combination ofthe two types of sensor data.

Vehicle control decisions may be improved by receiving sensorinformation from external sources and using these sensor inputs into thevehicle control decisions made by vehicle controller. External sensorsources may include one or more area controllers or other vehiclecontrol systems. Sensor data received may include the output of anyremote sensors, but will typically include information received directlyfrom:

-   -   another vehicle that includes information collected from sensors        mounted on that other vehicle,    -   from sensors directly connected to an area controller that the        vehicle controller is in communication with,    -   from a sensor data repository, or    -   from sensors located on another vehicle that have been forwarded        by an area controller.

Store and forwarded sensor data may be from other vehicles that arecurrently in communication with the area controller, or may be fromsensor data transmitted to the area controller by a vehicle that waspreviously in communication with the area controller (e.g. a previouslypassing vehicle). External sensor data sources are typicallyauthenticated by the vehicle controller before using that sensor data inorder to prevent rogue sensor data from effecting vehicle operations,and the communications are secured using standard communicationsinformation security techniques.

Conversely, the vehicle controller may also operate to share sensorinformation with other vehicles, area controllers, and centralmanagement sensor data repositories. For example, all sensor informationof a particular class may be forwarded to another vehicle, areacontroller, or to the CMS.

1.7.7 Vehicle Pilot Systems (AVPS)

In an example vehicle of the transportation system, an autonomousvehicle pilot system (AVPS) is one of the transportation system'scontrol components integrated with the autonomous vehicle and configuredso as to cooperatively manage the autonomous operations of the vehicle,thus customizing the vehicle to operate in cooperative ways with othercooperative vehicles and the transportation systems control components.Cooperative operation of autonomous vehicles within the transportationsystems roadways provide significant improvements in the operation ofthe transportation system as a whole, whilst minimizing the controlburden on the transportation systems control system components.

For example, a vehicle may be under the authority of a common controlsystem for a city (in whole or in part), whereby that authority isdelegated to one or more area controllers associated with one or morephysical and/or logical locations such a vehicle operates within at oneor more times.

Each of these control system components may provide a cooperatingvehicle with one or more information sets, comprising one or morespecification sets that determine or parameterize aspects of theoperating context for such a vehicle, for example an origin anddestination point for a specific passenger (or freight) may be providedto the vehicle as part of an information set at an appropriate time. Theinformation sets may include remote sensor data for use by the vehiclein making more accurate operational decisions by extending its sensorrange (and thus its situational awareness). This allows the vehicle tooperate safely at higher speeds, which increases the throughput of thetransportation system.

Each of these information sets may then be used by a vehicle to, inwhole or in part, determine and execute operations for the successfulexecution of such specifications, wherein the vehicle will invoke one ormore autonomous operations, such as for example, stop and pick upuniquely identified passenger at a specific location, merge into a flowof vehicles towards the destination, demerge from such a vehicle flowand come to a stop at an appropriate boarding zone for passengerdisembarkation.

Some vehicle implementations consist of one or more vehicle controllersthat in aggregate comprise the AVPS. Alternatively, the features of theAVPS may be integrated into an existing vehicle controller and operateas part of that controller. The AVPS in turn integrates with the vehiclecontrollers that implement the commands that are generated by the AVPSand communicated to such vehicle controllers, for example those fortraction, braking, steering and the like.

For example, an AVPS may include, but is not limited to:

-   -   Command and control    -   Safety and assurance    -   Security systems    -   Vehicle integrity systems    -   Communications

In some embodiments, an AVPS can operate in conjunction with a humanuser system (HUS) which provides the relevant personalization of thevehicle systems that may be configured for the human experience, forexample integration of their personal information systems with thevehicle information and entertainment systems.

Alternatively, an AVPS may be completely isolated from a HUS, so as toensure that there is no mechanism for an external interloper to gain anyaccess to the AVPS, should they be able to compromise the HUS.

1.7.7.1 Vehicle Controller Improvements

The vehicle controller comprises additional vehicle control softwarethat permits operation of the vehicle in multiple-state operation modeand/or a cooperative autonomous operation mode. AVPS functions mayintegrated into one or more individual vehicle control modules, or maybe implemented as a stand-alone controller within the vehicle.

Multiple-state operations mode is an operating mode of the vehiclecontroller that permits it to operate part of time in an autonomousmanner consistent with SAE level four or level five autonomy, part ofthe time in cooperative autonomous operating mode (described below), andat least part of the time in externally controlled mode. The vehiclecontroller may switch between these operating states as situationallyrequired and/or as instructed by an area controller. Specifically, thevehicle controller may change operating states upon express instructionfrom an area controller, may change states based upon the portion of theroadway it is operating upon, or based upon one or more sensor-observedoperating conditions associated with the roadway.

Cooperative autonomous operation mode is an operating mode of thevehicle controller subsystems that permit the vehicle controller to takeprimary control of the vehicle and operate the vehicle in a mannerconsistent with SAE level four or level five autonomy, whilstcommunicating with area controllers for additional instructions (e.g.terminal navigation instructions optimized for the specific area), tobi-directionally communicate sensor information with area controllers,and to use received sensor information in order to extend the vehiclessituational awareness and improve its operational control of thevehicle. Cooperative autonomous operation mode includes the followingoperational approaches.

-   -   Self- and group-optimizing behaviors    -   Goal seeking behaviors    -   Cooperative navigation mode    -   Shoal forming operations mode    -   Direct and synthetic fiducial recognition    -   Sensor sharing    -   Enhanced positioning and navigating    -   Vehicle integrity monitoring and reporting        1.7.7.2 Goal Seeking Behaviors

The optimized vehicle controller may cause the vehicle to operate inaccordance with one or more “goals”, which are independent of thevehicle assignments associated with reservations. These goals may bestored within the vehicle controller, may be received as part of adownloaded passenger profile, or may be received as part of one or moreoperational requests from an area controller or the CMS. Goals may beprovided in such a manner that they are associated with rewards forattaining the goals.

One example type of goals and reward is the reduction in billing appliedto a reservation. For example, a reward may be applied when a vehicleoperates at a specified level of cooperation, such as adjusting velocityto facilitate a merge by another vehicle, or by adjusting velocity sothat additional energy is consumed to allow the average velocity on oneor more roadway segments to be increased so as to improve capacity.

The vehicle controller may use these goals in its operation and mayarbitrate between goals in order to attempt to fulfill as many goals aspossible.

1.7.7.3 Cooperative Navigation and Behaviors

A vehicle controller, when operating in cooperative mode, may cause thevehicle systems to communicate with one or more other vehiclecontrollers, one or more area controllers, the CMS, and/or therespective management systems in order to communicate information aboutthe current state, intents and operating environment of the cooperativevehicle. The current state information communicated may include thecurrent controller state and status.

In addition to sharing sensed sensor information (as describedelsewhere), an vehicle controller may cause the vehicle systems tocommunicate the current vehicle location or other aspects of vehicleoperation such as velocity, current operating mode, current operatingprofile, and similar information available to the vehicle controller.This communication may occur in response to a timer, to a communicationreceived, a request from another controller, upon the change in state orstatus of the vehicle or one of its subsystems, upon identification of aparticular environmental objects, identification of a roadway or roadhazard, etc.

As part of the cooperative navigation operation, the vehicle controllermay accept navigation and control suggestions from other controllers,such as other vehicle controllers, area controllers, the CMS, and/or therespective management systems in order to request vehicle operationalchanges such as a velocity increase or decrease, operating restrictionssuch velocity restrictions, and notifications including alerts andwarnings. In addition, the vehicle controller may accept requests fromother vehicle controllers to optimize their common operations, such asby shoaling.

1.7.7.4 Shoal Forming

The vehicle controller may operate in a manner to identify one or morevehicles that it travelling together with, either by direct vehicle tovehicle communication, or by recognizing the vehicle using one or moresensors. If the recognized vehicle is a cooperative vehicle, theoptimized vehicle controller may communicate with the vehicle and forman ad-hoc vehicle group or a “shoal” as described elsewhere. Shoalingand ad-hoc vehicle groups have the effect of optimizing the operation ofthe transportation system by reducing the interstitial gap betweenvehicles and allowing more effective controls of external infrastructuresuch as optimizing stop light timing for a group of vehicles whenoperating outside of controlled roadways, which in turn optimizes thetransportation system as a whole.

1.7.8 Vehicle Positioning and Navigation

Each vehicle may include sets of sensors, including radar, LIDAR, IRcameras, microphones, ultrasound and the like. The set of sensors maysense the environment of the vehicle at, for example, a 10 millisecondtime resolution. One of the operations undertaken by these sensors, mayinclude the scanning of the roadway and other infrastructure toascertain and confirm the exact location of the vehicle within thesystem. The degree of accuracy of such determinations may, in someembodiments, be in the range of plus or minus 1 centimeter.

For example, a roadway and/or other infrastructure element may have amarking in the form of a cross which when captured by an appropriatesensor can enable a vehicle to determine the relationship between thecross, which may be aligned with the roadway centerline, and the vehicleand if required make any adjustments to the vehicles trajectory.

FIG. 18 illustrates vehicle marking/indicia and sensors that may beincorporated into vehicles. The roadway may be marked so as to representvehicle dimensions. The markings may include a layer that is raised orindented. The vehicle may include an emitted, e.g., an LED emitter(emitting different colors/wavelengths), and receivers, e.g., photodiode receivers such as avalanche receivers. It will be appreciated thatthe roadway itself may have further sensors and emitters to assist inidentifying the vehicles and allowing them to determine their positions.Marking layers may include positional markings 930 that are passive,reflective, or reactive. They may be responsive to active emitters, ordetectable by passive sensors. Sensors 932 a-e may include cameras, IR,RF, ultrasound, and may include both emitters and receivers. Whenvehicles come into proximity with each other, sensors may identifyvariance in velocity, direction, angle, etc.

1.7.8.1 Fiducial Recognition

The vehicle controller may operate in a manner by which it uses itsensor inputs to directly recognize fiducials, and then make operatingdecisions based in part upon the recognition of the fiducial. Forexample, the vehicle controller (or a subsystem of the vehiclecontroller) may use an RF sensor to recognize a roadway embeddedfiducial (or area controller) that it is approaching or passing, andthen precisely determine the vehicles location using that fiducial and adatabase of fiducials and their location. In an alternative example, thevehicle controller may identify the fiducial directly from the image itreceives from a sensor.

The vehicle controller may operate in a manner in which synthesizes afiducial from one or more sensor inputs by identifying sensed dataattributes from sensor information collected from one or more sensors,and using those attributes to make a determination that a fiducial ispresent. For example, the vehicle controller may receive a sensed image(either from onboard sensors or from remote sensors relayed by an areacontroller), and then process the sensed image using an image objectclassification program in order to detect objects and object attributes,and then look up those determined objects and object attributes in adatabase of fiducial attributes in order to make a determination that anobject and attributes identified in the image is a specific fiducial.

Without regard to how a fiducial is detected and identified and itslocation is determined, the vehicle controller then uses the informationabout the fiducial and the vehicles location as part of AVPS processing(described later).

Cooperative Navigation and Behaviors

A vehicle controller, when operating in cooperative mode, may cause thevehicle systems to communicate with one or more other vehiclecontrollers, one or more area controllers, the CMS, and/or therespective management systems in order to communicate information aboutthe current state, intents and operating environment of the cooperativevehicle. The current state information communicated may include thecurrent controller state and status.

In addition to sharing sensed sensor information (as describedelsewhere), an optimized controller may cause the vehicle systems tocommunicate the current vehicle location or other aspects of vehicleoperation such as velocity, current operating mode, current operatingprofile, and similar information available to the optimized vehiclecontroller. This communication may occur in response to a timer, to acommunication received, a request from another controller, upon thechange in state or status of the vehicle or one of its subsystems, uponidentification of a particular environmental objects, identification ofa roadway or road hazard, etc.

As part of the cooperative navigation operation, the optimizedcontroller may accept navigation and control suggestions from othercontrollers, such as other vehicle controllers, area controllers, theCMS, and/or the respective management systems in order to requestvehicle operational changes such as a velocity increase or decrease,operating restrictions such velocity restrictions, and notificationsincluding alerts and warnings. In addition, the optimized vehiclecontroller may accept requests from other vehicle controllers tooptimize their common operations, such as by shoaling.

1.7.9 Vehicle Information Systems

Each vehicle has one or more communications capability enabling, forexample vehicles to share sets of sensor data and other pertinentinformation sets in support of those vehicles operations. For example, avehicle may pass information to other vehicles (for example a vehiclethat is at the leading edge of a set of following vehicles) to undertakeone or more maneuvers, for example to merge/demerge from a flow ofvehicles, for example those on a trunk roadway segment. For example, avehicle may advise nearby or surrounding vehicles of a fault or bug inits own control system. For example, a vehicle may detect a fault withits own control systems that will lead to a deterioration of thatvehicles operations, and the vehicle may advise those vehicles that arenearest to it, which may propagate such a message to other vehicles inturn, providing a minimal latency for those other vehicles to react. Thefault or bug information set may be passed to one or more components ofthe control systems, including area controllers and a common controllerand its CMS. The controllers (e.g., area controllers and/or commoncontroller and its CMS) may in turn intervene into vehiclecommunications to manage both the flow of information to other vehiclesand to provide further information sets to those vehicles that may beimpacted by the deterioration of the initial vehicles operatingconditions. The intervention may include, for example, configuration ofone or more logical blocks (for example varying speed of a cruiseprofile for a set of logical blocks), vehicle operating parameters (forexample increasing headway between vehicles), vehicle routing andnavigation (for example providing navigation information suitable foravoiding the deteriorated vehicle) and the like.

Vehicles may also make information sets available from one or moresensors on the vehicle to other vehicles. For example, a forward-facingcamera image set may be made available to other vehicles and/or areacontrollers. Additionally, other vehicles operating in a cooperativemanner may receive and evaluate the image information set, with otherinformation included information set, for example location, relativedistance, velocity, acceleration and the like, for purposes of managingoperations of the receiving vehicle(s). The information sets also may besent to one or more control system components, such as an areacontroller, common controller and/or their corresponding managementsystems, where one or more algorithms may be employed to analyze suchimages. For example, multiple cameras, radars or other sensors mayprovide an information set that, when aggregated and analyzed, providesa 3D rendering of the space being sensed. The information sets may beused to create further detailed mappings, evaluate one or more objectsin the field of sensing, provide further input for other processing (forexample machine learning algorithms for further system optimization,identification and/or classification of one or more feature sets fordeep learning and the like) and the like.

1.7.10 Vehicle Integrity Monitoring

The optimized vehicle controller may include processing routines thatare capable of verifying the integrity and functioning of varioussubsystems of the vehicle. In addition to the standard code signing, andsignature verification on controller program loading techniques that arewell understood, the optimized vehicle controller may include routinesthat may further test the vehicle sensors, mechanical components, andthen report upon the results of these tests. These routines may be usedas part of regular vehicle self checks, and at particular locationswithin the operating system as described above (e.g. when transitioningbetween surface streets and controlled roadways as described for aningress segment). While the number and type of self-tests may vary bycontroller, the following classes of tests are envisioned:

-   -   Testing sensors and sensor arrays by providing well-known (and        easily recognized) objects within the sensing field of one or        more sensors and determining if the sensor (or sensor array)        detects and properly identifies that object. Example sample        objects presented for sensing may include objects that are known        fiducials, common objects in various sensed orientations (such        as people, vehicles, virtual roadway segment markings, etc.),        and objects that present to the sensors in order to detect the        limits and range of the sensor system (such as a gray scale with        minimum perceptible changes in color, designed to test if the        sensor and recognizer are operating at a required or desired        level of effectiveness).    -   Testing mechanical systems by providing external stimuli and        determining if the external stimuli is detected and whether the        vehicle systems operate properly in the presence of these        stimuli. External stimuli may include changing aspects of the        vehicle environment (such as temperature or humidity), friction        coefficient, whether the suspension is operating properly by        operating the vehicle over a known roadway segment with        particular features such as bumps and determining whether the        vehicle systems register and respond to the systems        appropriately. Similarly, in some contexts (such as garage),        operational limit (such as acceleration and power draw under        acceleration) and braking tests may be conducted and reported        upon.    -   Testing communication systems by causing the vehicle        communications systems to connect to one or more area        controllers and/or CMS controllers, and by testing RF reception        using differing transmitters to emit transmissions of differing        strengths and from differing orientations with respect to the        vehicle RF antennas.    -   Testing of redundant systems, to ensure automatic switchover and        comparing of results of redundant operation. For example, the        testing regime may cause two redundant processors to execute a        routine on a set of known inputs and compare the outputs and        timing to determine if both processors are functioning        correctly.

As self tests are performed, the optimized vehicle controller maycommunicate the test and test results to an area controller, or to arepository of a CMS. In some embodiments, one of the area controllers ora CMS may request a vehicle execute one or more self tests selected fromthe set of available tests.

1.7.11 Individual Vehicle Control System

In an example system, an individual vehicle may include multiplesubsystems providing an autonomous vehicle platform, for example:

-   -   Vehicle chassis, drive, steering and associated management        systems    -   Battery and other energy management systems    -   Sensors and autonomous operations systems    -   Communications and infrastructure integration systems    -   Cabin and human environmental systems    -   Human contextual information systems    -   Safety and redundancy management and operations

The integration of these vehicle sub systems, such as cabin features,cameras and microphones, drive and vehicle control systems, windows anddisplay systems and/or the like creates several unique aspects for thehuman experience using the example system. For example, these featuresmay be coordinated in combination when a set of vehicles is being usedto fulfill a request for a set of passengers, such as, for example afamily, co-workers, school participants, and the like.

The integration of information sets from vehicles at the level of subsystems of a vehicle may provide closer integrated operating conditions,supporting for example inter vehicle communications, (for passengers,vehicle systems (and/or sub-systems) and roadway infrastructureelements). For example, vehicle sensor information sets may communicatecurrent, anticipated and/or previous operating conditions to othercontrol system components (e.g. other vehicles, area controllers, andcommon controllers, and their respective management systems) in anyarrangement. For example, a first vehicle may receive and/or transmit aninformation set comprising vehicle specific information, regarding, forexample, velocity, trajectory, position, intents/operating plans, energylevels, sensor outputs and the like, to one or more other vehicles. Inaddition, the first vehicle may share information sets it has previouslyreceived. For example, if a set of vehicles with similar destinationsare traveling in proximity to each other, these vehicles may share oneor more information sets, for example, if an area controller specifiesthat such a set vary their velocity.

Vehicles may also incorporate plug and play personalization andcustomizations, so that passengers may have access to materials, forexample their entertainment, files, personal information access,communications and the like, that are specific to them. This may includeone or more secure capabilities that ensure that all customer specificinformation is only available to that customer, and that the vehicleand/or other supporting systems do not retain any information sets,other than, for example, appropriate meta data for billing and/or otheradministrative tasks. Each customer may have an application and one ormore devices that provide sufficient identity information for effectiveauthentication and/or authorization.

1.7.12 Vehicle Operating States

Vehicles may operate as a state machine and use the current vehiclestate to help control the operation of the vehicle. In some embodiments,a vehicle state may be associated with certain vehicle profiles, whichare described herein. For example, a vehicle that has a destination of aspecific Boarding Zone, may undertake to execute control sequences fromprofiles representing a set of vehicle states (vstates) associated withboarding zone operation.

vstate01: vehicle is traveling at a range of high speeds on the mainroadway (or set of segments), using one or more control systems,primarily the AVPS, to position the vehicle in continuous flow ofvehicles. For example, an AVPS may use feedback control to maintain theappropriate distance to the next vehicle ahead. This may be the VehicleCruise Profile (“VCP”), whereby although the vehicle may vary speed, theAVPS is maintaining velocity within specified parameters of VCP. In thisexample Vtarget=50 kph, though this may have a variance, Vtarget_V=20kph, where the target velocity may vary by plus or minus 20% (40 kph to60 kph) to accommodate vehicles maneuvers.

vstate02: vehicle is traveling with fixed acceleration on the mainroadway, reducing its speed so that it enters a loading zone within avery tight tolerance of a target velocity Vtarget (e.g., Vtarget=25kph). In some embodiments, this may be a Vehicle Traverse Profile (VTP)with parameters such as Vtarget=25 kph.

vstate03: vehicle is changing lanes at speed Vtarget, for exampleundertaking Vehicle Merge/Demerge Profile (“VMP”).

vstate04: vehicle moves forward at speed Vtarget, until it encountersanother vehicle, arrives at the end of the transition zone and/or isinstructed to vary speed, for example by a BMS.

vstate05: vehicle moves forward at speed Vtarget until it eitherencounters another vehicle, enters the allocated parking spot or isotherwise instructed by BMS.

vstate06: vehicle is at rest unloading passengers.

vstate07: vehicle is at rest loading passengers (e.g., the vehicle isoperating VEP).

vstate08: vehicle is at rest waiting to depart (e.g., the vehicle isoperating VEP).

vstate09: vehicle is backing up, out of its parking spot (e.g., thevehicle is completing VEP operations).

vstate10: vehicle is moving forward until it encounters another vehicle,arrives at the end of the transition zone and/or is instructed to varyspeed, for example by a BMS (e.g., the vehicle is operating VBP).

vstate11: vehicle has identified and/or been informed of a virtualvehicle (i.e., open spot) in a continuous main flow, and is acceleratingto Vtarget in order to match the speed and position of this spot,operating VMP.

vstate12: vehicle is changing lanes at speed Vtarget, into its open spotin main flow, operating VTP.

A virtual vehicle may be used to identify and manage gaps between actualvehicles in our system. For instance, a virtual vehicle may be insertedbetween two real vehicles, which may then adjust their velocities so asto accommodate its presence. A real vehicle executing a merge maneuvermay establish a virtual vehicle at its target position in its new lane.A real vehicle exiting a loading zone does so into the gap maintained bya virtual vehicle (see vstate11 above).

1.8 Safety Systems

In some embodiments, the vehicle traction and braking systems aredesigned such that the vehicle wheels will still rotate during atraction or braking failure. In this manner, a vehicle can “free wheel”to a stop on a flat surface in line with residual friction of thevehicle. In some embodiments, this may involve a spike/cantilever/metalor other material and and/or the like emerging from the bottom of thevehicle that provides such friction with the roadway. Such a retardingdevice may employ a one way profile, such that it can move in thedirection of travel but cannot move ion the opposite direction, forexample if a vehicle is on an incline which would take it backwards. Inthis manner, the vehicle may slow to a stop and then be retarded fromany rearward movement.

This graceful failover approach is embodied throughout embodiments ofthe system, such that each operative subsystem is shown to have agraceful failover mode, and in extremis the vehicle will adopt thisstrategy, even if all the control systems and other safety features arenon-operational. This includes the use of triple redundant powersupplies for example, one high voltage/high current for main traction,one low voltage (e.g. 12v/24v/48v) to supply the control systems and thelike and a further low voltage system as a back to the first low voltagesystem and/or to power the ancillary systems.

Additionally, appropriate vehicle control systems may provideinformation sets to other vehicles, area controllers, common controllerand/or any other relevant systems if the traction and/or braking systemsfail. Additionally, providing the information set may include providingany passengers (including any other passenger designated parties) withinformation sets that are appropriate for the circumstances, such as forexample safety information, rescue information and the like.

Steering systems are designed, in some embodiments to have failurestates that also include graceful failover, such that if a steeringsystem malfunctions the vehicle is able to reach a state of rest in asafe, efficient and effective manner. In the example of a vehicletraveling on a roadway that is straight, this involves the steeringhaving a “straight ahead” mode, which may be actuated by one or moremechanical, electromechanical, hydraulic, pressured air or othermechanisms. In some embodiments, a steering system retarding device mayprevent the vehicle to maneuver into vehicles travelling in the opposingdirection including in curves, for example by a device directing asteering mechanism that has failed in the direction away from the sideof opposing traffic.

1.9 Vehicle Transit

Example vehicles may operate so as to arrange themselves and/or bearranged into groupings that optimize the transit of the vehicle (orsets thereof) under particular operating circumstances. In the examplesystem, autonomous vehicles operate on a separated vehicle pathway, andas the deployment of such vehicles is based on pre scheduled journeys,each vehicle may operate in a highly optimized manner, both individuallyfor the journey that is currently being undertaken and socially as partof that set of vehicles that are collectively providing the overallcapacity of the system at that time.

An example system deployment may have an overall capacity limit which isdetermined by the vehicle roadway, the number of vehicles operating andthe various operating profiles of those vehicles, and the capacity ofthe boarding zones that start and end each journey. This capacity limitcan be represented as a systemic stable state, to which each of theoperating control systems may collaborate in order to optimize theoverall system and the operations of vehicles within that system.

1.9.1 Vehicle Aggregations (Shoaling)

Cooperative Vehicles may create aggregations of vehicles, which may bead hoc, designated and/or pre-scheduled, such that a set of vehicles maycombine in a logical arrangement, that may include physical aggregationof such vehicles on a roadway, e.g., to form “shoals” of vehicles. Thearrangement of vehicles permits for various control optimizations thatimprove the overall operation of the system, for example, a shoal ofvehicles may be routed (or rerouted) together as a group. Similarly, ashoal may be configured to present a number of vehicles at a boardingzone that optimizes the throughput of a boarding zone or other capacitylimited resource of the roadway without causing undue delays to vehiclesthat are not part of the shoal.

Optionally, a subset of the interconnected roadways may have sufficientwidth to allow multiple vehicles to travel in parallel in the samedirection, where the set of vehicles configured to travel in parallel atapproximately the same approximate velocity on the subset of theinterconnected roadway.

The vehicles traveling at the same time along a common sub-route oftheir journey may recognize that they are travelling together and forcean ad-hoc shoal in order to optimize their use of the roadway. beconfigured to travel in a shoal, which is a vehicle groupingcharacterized as having reduced space separations between the vehiclesin order to improve the capacity and throughput of the sub-route.

In some embodiments, vehicles may attempt to arrange themselves intoarrangements based upon a common endpoint or destination, where eachvehicle may create a temporal, logical and/or physical relationship withone or more other vehicle(s) travelling, for example, to the same orsimilar destination or intermediate destination, traveling on the samephysical roadway, that have a common passenger set (for example a largefamily, passengers traveling to/from a sports event and the like) andother contextual arrangements that support optimization of such a set ofvehicles. For example, a multi-lane roadway may be used by a set ofvehicles such that there is a “passing” lane where vehicles aggregateand travel in groups to destinations where the group has scheduling orother right of way. In other embodiments, for example the aggregationmay involve the vehicles physically and/or logically connecting to eachother, for example in a serial or parallel arrangement. In this mannereach vehicle may arrange to travel with other vehicles to a destinationin an optimized manner.

Vehicles may “shoal” together such that they maintain a set ofrelationships with other vehicles that share sets of attributes incommon. Vehicle shoals may be geographical and/or logical. For example,a shoal may comprise a set of cooperative vehicles transiting from oneor more origin points to a common destination point.

For example, a geographical shoal may comprise vehicles that are inclose physical proximity with a common destination may “shoal” and insome cases may move as a group within a flow of other vehicles. Forexample, such a shoal may move from a cruise profile to a demergeprofile whilst traversing across the example roadway to an appropriatemerge egress position. The shoal may be dynamic in that a vehicle mayenter a shoal for a period, representing only part of the journey forthat vehicle.

Regardless of physical proximity, vehicles not in the same location may“shoal” at a logical level, i.e. to regulate the flow of vehicles notyet in the same physical space, but at some future stage of theirjourney having some relationship and/or dependency. For example,vehicles may be targeted at or aiming for the same boarding zones andthus competing for a specific limited boarding capacity. All vehicles inthis logical shoal may regulate their speeds to arrive at the boardingzone in a sequence that avoids any congestion. In another example,vehicles may form a logical shoal to arrive at a designate mergelocation at the right point in time, and exchange information tofacilitate this synchronous arrival. Logical shoals of vehicles employone or more communications with each other and/or one or more controlsystem components to achieve a common objective.

Within a shoal, each vehicle may communicate directly or indirectly withthe other vehicles in the shoal, information sets that support eachvehicles ability to cooperate with other vehicles in a safe, reliableand efficient manner. For example, each vehicle may maintain a certaindistance from the other vehicles, such as headway, lateral distance,they may match velocity and/or acceleration/deceleration, braking orother vehicle dynamics such as steering. In a logical shoal, wherevehicles are not in close proximity, the vehicles may coordinate theirtransit to achieve some other objective, such as reducing congestion ata particular shared destination by spacing out arrivals, or by arrivingtogether so as to assemble a group of passengers without undue waiting.

For example, in some embodiments, an AVPS may include a “shoal” modewhereby the vehicles at the edge of a geographic shoal provide, throughtheir incorporated sensor arrays, information sets to those othervehicles in the shoal enabling the shoal to operate in a consistent andcohesive manner. Such operations may continue after such a shoal hasdemerged from or has yet to merge into a trunk roadway. For example, aset of vehicles may be travelling to a common destination, such as asporting event, and information may be communicated such that eachvehicle will seek to position itself in proximity of another vehiclewith that common destination, matching velocity and other vehicledynamics in the process, and sharing appropriate sensor information setsso as to enable the group of vehicles to most effectively and safelycomplete their journey.

When operating in “shoal” mode, an AVPS identifies one or morecooperative vehicles that meeting its shoaling criteria. The AVPS thenestablishes a secure communication with those vehicles and exchangesinformation sets regarding shoal operation. The exchange of informationmay be one time or ongoing. One or more of the vehicles may then alterits operation in order to effect the shoal behaviors. For example, twovehicles may communicate and start to shoal while sharing sensor andoperational information, and a second cooperative vehicle may slightlyaccelerate in order to reduce the distance between the two cooperatingvehicles to the minimum distance specified in the information set. Inthis way, the cooperating vehicles use less space on the roadwaysegment, improving the overall operation of the system by increasing thenumber of vehicles that can transit a roadway segment in a unit of time.The minimum distance permitted is determined in part from thecommunications lag between the two cooperating vehicles, in part fromthe amount of time it takes an AVPS to process sensor data and take anaction to control a vehicle, and part from the velocity of the shoalingvehicles. In an embodiment, the inter-vehicle gap in the goal thuscalculated on the fly by an AVPS based upon the above parameters and thevelocities of the two vehicles. Depending upon the amount of informationbeing shared, the communication link speed, and the processing power ofthe AVPS, the inter-vehicle gap may be reduced to less than 500milliseconds, less than 1000 millisecond, or less than 1500milliseconds. This reduction in inter-vehicle gap size significantlyimproves the throughput of the roadway segment. Additional cooperativevehicles may join a shoal by repeating the above process.

1.9.2 Vehicle Streams and Corridors

In some embodiments, a vehicle corridor may include a portion of avehicle right of way having a width that is sufficient to supportmultiple vehicles, in multiple configurations, such as sequential,parallel, interlaced, and the like. Such vehicles need not beconstrained to a specific designated lanes of roadways, e.g., as wouldbe done by marking on the right of way, for example using passive and/oractive indicators or though logical designation and demarcation. Areaswithout such designations are known as free-flow spaces. In someembodiments, free-flow spaces may include directional flow arrangementson either side of the traffic space, as well as interleaved crossings.In some embodiments, such designations, such as embark/disembark,merge/demerge and cruise may be dynamically assigned to a set of logicalvehicle blocks and/or a set of geo blocks. For example, an areacontroller may allocate a specific set of geo blocks forembark/disembark and a set of logical blocks for a “swarm” of vehiclesthat will use such embark/disembark blocks. Once theembarkation/disembarkation has been completed, these blocks may then bedesignated as merge/demerge as the vehicle “swarm” then enters thevehicle flow.

For example, a vehicle stream, may comprise a set of quantized types,with specific block profiles as described herein, which may be used forexample:

Ingress (passenger/freight embarkation) and egress (passenger/freightdisembarkation), which in aggregate form the boarding zone. This mayinclude specific zones, for zones for embarking and disembarkingpassengers and/or zones for loading and unloading freight and pallets.

Merge/demerge for vehicles to move from or to a cruise lane, for examplewhen moving from a boarding zone to a cruise lane.

Cruise for vehicles that are traveling at the maximum velocity for thatroadway, for example a typical trunk route may use 50 Kph. (or higher)

Where each of these types has a set of operating configurations, forexample those supplied by an area controller as part of an informationset, such configurations comprising, for example operatingspecifications, such as vehicle speed, headway and the like, that may bedynamically varied.

1.9.3 Merging and Demerging

In some embodiments, each vehicle may include one or more timereferences, which may be used for synchronization of vehicle systems andcollaboration with system controllers, and synchronization with one ormore vehicles. For example, a vehicle may be travelling at a specificvelocity, and a time references, for example timers, clocks etc., may beused to determine the velocity of other vehicles with which such vehicleis merging. In this manner, the synchronization may include a vehicleintending to merge which is traveling at a velocity other than that ofthe group of vehicles with which it is to merge (e.g. vehicle A). Themerging vehicle may operate at least one clock which is used tosynchronize the relative time and relative velocity of this vehicle andthe stream of vehicles with which it is intending to merge.

In this example, the vehicles comprising the vehicle stream with whichVehicle A is intending to merge, may also be aware, through directand/or indirect communications with vehicle A (for example throughvehicle to vehicle communications and/or through an appropriate AreaController), the relative synchronization reference time of such avehicle (vehicle A). In this manner, such stream of vehicles may makeappropriate adjustments to their own relative distance between vehicles(from the rear(tail) of a first vehicle to the front(head) of theimmediately following vehicle), so as to create a gap or logical blockthat is available for such vehicle (Vehicle A) to successfully mergewith such a vehicle stream, which may include both vehicles beingsynchronized by one or more clocks/times, for example those of thevehicles and/or one or more control system components. This informationmay be used by all vehicles involved in the process to ascertain anoptimum merge arrangement where the logical block to be occupied by themerging vehicle (Vehicle A) and the geo locked block at which this willoccur create one or more optimizations as determined by the vehiclesinvolved and/or area Controller(s). For example, this may be determinedas the minimal impact on the overall velocity of the vehicles within thestream, the minimization of the time taken for the merging vehicle toenter the stream, or the management of acceleration and deceleration ofthe vehicle in order to preserve energy.

The use of one or more clocks for synchronization of the velocity andintegration of one or more vehicles may include, for example, theshoaling of a set of vehicles, whereby the relative clock information ofeach vehicle is shared as a common reference among the vehicles. Thisshoal may be extensible, for example, for a vehicle having the samedestination as the shoal (in whole or in par, e.g., majority of thejourney is common), members of the shoal may make adjustments to theiroperation in order to change one or more of the vehicle distances (frontand rear) between shoal members in order to make room (e.g. to makeavailable a suitable logical block) for merging one or more vehicles tojoin such a shoal.

1.9.4 Merge and Demerge Interlocking

In some embodiments, two or more trunk and/or distributor roadwaysegments may combine to form a single trunk or distributor roadwaysegment. There may also be a vehicle that enters from a roadway ontoanother roadway, for example a trunk roadway segment, and then may leavethat roadway, for example onto another trunk and/or distributor roadwaysegments. For example, a vehicle may enter from the right and exit onthe left, where the vehicle interlocks with the other vehicles alreadyrunning on that trunk roadway segment. Such a maneuver may use the blockprofile traverse, where the vehicle operations are optimized for thissituation. This block state may then be communicated to other vehiclesin the area adjacent to and/or on the anticipated path of the vehiclemaking the traversal and as such these vehicles may collaborate so thatwithout undue compromise to their own travel, the traversal of thevehicle is assisted in an optimum manner.

FIG. 19 illustrates a vehicle 112 c (“vehicle C”) merging with anexisting flow of other vehicles. A vehicle on trajectory, for exampleone that is demerging from a vehicle stream to embark/disembarkpassengers, may project a trajectory (for example based on the vehiclecenterline) for such a maneuver and then request that the logical and/orgeo locked blocks that it seeks to traverse are clear of other vehicles(in whole or in part) at the time of such transversal. In FIG. 19, anarea controller may inform two groups of vehicles (e.g., group 940 a(“Group A) and ground 940 b (“Group B), that vehicle 112 c “vehicle C”is merging, and its projected trajectory 942. The trailing “group B” andleading “group A” may reduce inter vehicle distance to accommodate“vehicle C”. The total vehicles in the groups are sufficient to enablean additional gap or logical block (e.g., projected block 944 for“vehicle C”) with sufficient headway and tailway, e.g., a 3 meter block,with 2 m tailway and 2 m headway, for a total of 7 m. At cruise, in theexample inter-vehicle distance may normally be 4.5 m. So, each groupcreates an additional 1.25 m of distance by, for example, “group A”speeding up temporarily, and for “group B” slowing down temporarily.Once “vehicle C” has entered the vehicle flow, then the vehicles in“Group A” and “Group B” may adjust their velocity so as to normalizeinter vehicle distance to cruise profile, e.g., 4.5 m.

1.9.5 Dynamic Mapping

Each vehicle sensor set may be used to dynamically map the route beingundertaken by an operating vehicle as it undertakes the journey on whichit is embarked. For example, in some embodiments, a vehicle may befitted with one or more microphones, which are facing downward towardsthe roadway, for example at a 45 degree angle facing forward. The soundscaptured by these microphones may be processed by DSP to create an audiomap of the roadway, and potentially of the vehicle traction operationsas well. In this case, each roadway segment, for example a 1 meter×1meter segment may have an audio map baseline established. Any variationsto that baseline may be processed on an exception basis by the AVPS andmanagement systems. For example, an audio profile may vary andinformation (e.g., roadway is wet, it has started to rain, etc.) can becommunicated to other vehicles and system controllers.

In some embodiments, each vehicle may have a dynamic mapping of thesystem deployment in which it operates. Such a mapping may includenavigation and positional information at several sensor/emitterfrequencies, for example Radar, Ultrasound, visual, audio and the like.Such a vehicle map may be updated dynamically by, for example thevehicle itself, other vehicles with which it is communicating, and oneor more control system components, such as an area controller and/orcommon controller and its CMS.

Map updating may include the vehicle undertaking one or more similaritymatching operations, using for example a GPU based computing platform,to compare the locational and environmental information held in thevehicle repository with the sensor/emitter provided information setsfrom that vehicle and/or other vehicles which it is in communicationwith. For example, such a dynamic comparison may result in one or morevariances, indicating a change in roadway conditions. These changes maythen be communicated to and used by one or more control systemcomponents, including the area controller that the vehicle is operatingwith at any point in time.

In some embodiments, map updates may be streamed to all vehicles in abroadcast mode on a periodic basis, for example an area controller maybroadcast updates to those vehicles with which it is communicatingand/or to the common controller and its CMS for distribution to othercontrol system components.

1.10 Demand and Supply of Vehicles

A vehicle that is operating within a first area controllers domain mayinteract with another area controller, either depending on location, forexample if approaching a physical or logical boundary of such an areacontroller control or as instructed by a common controller, e.g., as aresult of receiving an information set with parameters used to configurethe operation of the vehicle in order to improve aspects of the systemsuch as flow control, load balancing, or the like. When an areacontroller is interacting with a vehicle the degree of executive controland authority that the controller has may in part be determined by thevehicle AVPS. For example, an area controller may send to the vehicle aninformation set of parameters that include specifications for how thevehicle may “shoal” with other vehicles, or to travel to a differentposition such as a specific pickup and destination locations, a parkingarea, or even, for example, a specific segment of a roadway. Afterreceiving the information set, the vehicle may comply within theconstraints of its current operating situation, including thecooperation of other vehicles. There may be circumstances where an areacontroller may communicate information sets related to vehicles enteringor leaving an area associated with a first area controller to anotherarea controller.

An area controller may use one or more configurations to match thesupply of vehicles for the demand for such vehicles. This demand andsupply matching may employ one or more pre-emptive schedulingtechniques, for example employing an address space where each vehiclehas a specific identity and is assigned an address space within the areamanaged by the area controller. Such an address space may have arelationship with the logical and or physical “blocks” that comprisesuch an area, and which have further relationships with the geo blocksand physical blocks that comprise such an area. One advantage of such anapproach is the ability to dynamically transfer such relationships toanother area controller or other management systems as required.

1.11 Vehicle Control Autonomy in an Integrated Control System

In some example embodiments, each autonomous vehicle has sufficientautonomy and situational awareness to maintain the integrity of theoperations of that vehicle in conjunction with other vehicles. Eachvehicle navigates the roadway in pursuit of its route (origin point,destination point), and undertakes the appropriate vehicle operationprofiles (e.g. merge/demerge, cruise etc.).

Each vehicle undertakes various solution strategies that ensure safe,reliable and efficient transit. The degree to which these factors may beoptimized may be determined through the use of contextual determinationswhich may various control approaches. In an embodiment, these controlapproaches incorporate the cooperative operation techniques describedherein.

Each vehicle may operate within a set of contextual constraints, forexample, whereby the relationship between the vehicle and the logicalblock containing that vehicle comprises a set of relationships over atime period. For example, the relationship of the vehicle block to thelogical blocks and geo blocks may be based on the velocity and/oracceleration/deceleration if the velocity is not constant, for example,when a vehicle is traversing a straight roadway. For example if thevehicle block and logical blocks both have a velocity of 50 kph, thenthe vehicle will adjust its relative position, so as to have a one toone relationship with that block. In this manner, the rate of flow ofvehicles, represented by the logical blocks is matched to the actualvehicle traveling within that logical block structure.

When such a relationship, between the block representing (andcontaining) the vehicle in transit and the logical flow of blocksrepresenting the flow of blocks at a specific velocity in relation tothe geo blocks, representing the physical roadway, is synchronized, theneach vehicle may undertake operations in relation to the roadway andother vehicles based on such blocks. For example, two vehicles travelingin parallel in adjacent blocks may recognize such a situation from theironboard sensors and/or being informed of this situation by one or morecontrol systems. In both cases the vehicles may be operate in a way thatprecludes them from moving to occupy that block occupied by the othervehicle.

The representation of one or more traffic flows by logical blocksprovides at least one basis for each vehicle to integrate itself intosuch a flow. The position of a vehicle is represented in terms of therelationship between the vehicle block and the flow of logical blocks.This integration may be used by the vehicle to determine the optimumstrategy for a vehicle's integration whilst minimizing any disruption tothat flow of other vehicles.

For example, a vehicle (and/or a set of vehicles and area controllers)may propose a specific trajectory involving traversing a set of logicalblocks to achieve integration with an existing flow of vehicles. Theproposing vehicle or area controller sends an information set to theother controllers and vehicles comprising the proposed route, in termsof blocks and timing of their traversal to other vehicles operating inthe area of the vehicle(s) proposing to merge. In this example, eachvehicle may cooperatively configure its own operating parameters so asto accommodate the incoming vehicle(s), through for example creatingsufficient available space, represented by one or more blocks, for thatentry to occur. Should this not be able to be resolved by the vehiclesinvolved working in cooperation, an area controller may issue anadditional information set comprising sufficient additional informationso that all the vehicles involved to adapt their operations so as toenable such a merge. The common controller, area controller, and AVPSare thus all aware of the route to be navigated. That route may beexpressed as a set of logical blocks which in whole or in part may besynchronized in an optimized manner with the logical blocks representingthose roadways covered by the intended route.

In some embodiments, although the vehicles may be autonomous andindependent actors, the area controller may provide a framework foroperating within its area of influence. For example, an area controllermay change the profile of a set of logical blocks from cruise profile tomerge/demerge profile such that vehicles that traverse the logicalblocks during a journey vary their control of the vehicle or theparameters thereof, to accommodate the changed circumstances.

In some embodiments, each vehicle has a set of relationships, which maybe managed within the context of the operations of the vehicle. Theseinclude, but are not limited to:

-   -   R: the enumerated relationship from one vehicle to the vehicle        preceding that vehicle traveling on the same trajectory,        expressed in distance and/or time.    -   L: the enumerated relationship of one vehicle to another vehicle        where both vehicles are traveling on adjacent parallel        trajectories, expressed in distance and/or time.    -   LD: the enumerated relationship from the side center point of        one vehicle to the side center point of another vehicle        traveling on adjacent parallel trajectories, expressed in angle,        distance and/or time.    -   P: the position of the vehicle in relation to the roadway on        which it is traveling and the infrastructure embedded in that        infrastructure. (P) may include multiple enumerations        referential to multiple frames of reference, including for        example, vehicle specific, vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to        roadway, vehicle to other infrastructure, vehicle to area        controller, GNNS and the like.    -   T: the vehicle trajectory enumerated in terms of the vehicle        velocity and profile, for example cruise, merge, traverse and        the like.    -   OD: the origin and destination points of the vehicle and may        include multiple enumerations of each of these data points and        at least one route. The route may include one or more waypoints        where for example, a vehicle undertaking a journey may have the        projected time for such a journey compared with the actual time        on reaching such a waypoint, and vehicle and/or control systems        may make adjustments based on any variations. For example, a        vehicle may increase or decrease its velocity to account for the        variance and may use, in whole or in part, further waypoints to        determine the degree of variance. An area controller may adjust        the parameters of one or more vehicles to account for any        variations and communicate such adjustments to a common        controller.

Each of these may comprise an information set of specifications whichmay be enumerated in any arrangement, such as for example hierarchical.For example, there may be information sets of specifications that arearranged in support of vehicle operations.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of some of above example relationshipsbetween vehicles. In the illustrated example, the roadways may includeroadway boundaries 960 a-b. The roadway boundaries 960 a-b may be afence, wall, curb, etc. The roadways may also include a roadside beacon962 and/or a roadside markings 964 (e.g., roadside sensor recognizablepositional markings). The roadway may also include inroad positionalmarkings 966. In the illustrated example, position (P) may beestablished by multiple redundant measurements. Measurements may beobtained from a downward looking camera. Additionally, the measurementsmay include radar to roadway boundary 960 a-b measurements along withmeasurements to markings (e.g., roadside markings 964 and/or positionalmarkings 966). Other measurements may be determined from roadsidebeacons 962, vehicle to vehicle communications, and/or vehicle tocontrol system communications.

In some embodiments, a vehicle may employ one or more sensor sets so asto explore the environment at a rate, for example of 10 ms timeincrement for event detection.

In some embodiments, adjacent vehicle to vehicle communications may beundertaken at a rate of 100 hz. Such communications may includepositioning information, including for example the number of hops thatsuch a communication has traversed, so that vehicles that are not in thenear vicinity of the originating message assign a priority to thosemessages, including for example disregarding them.

The set of vehicles to which one or more vehicles provide informationmay in part be determined by each vehicle, where for example a vehicledetermines that the information may have no impact on that vehiclescurrent operations and/or by an area controller which may set one ormore specifications (for example distance/time/location and/or the like)that manages the propagation of such information. In some embodiments,the strength of the radio signal, especially as related to shorty rangeradio technologies such as Bluetooth, 60 Ghz Wi-Fi and the like may beused, potentially in a quantized form) to provide such propagationlimitation.

For example, a vehicle that is operating a contextual synchronizationand harmonization operating conditions set (CSHOCS), when that vehicleis operating a cruise profile, may for example, operate to:

-   -   maintain the value of R as 4.65 m when cruise is at 50 Kph, with        a variance of ±0.5 m.    -   maintain L at 0.4 m plus or minus 3 cm    -   maintain LD at an angle of Theta and a distance of N, such that        L>0.4 m    -   maintain P within plus or minus 2 cm of the trajectory (T)        determined by one or more control systems and vehicle onboard        navigation and positioning systems to satisfy the origin and        destination (OD) parameters.

The vehicle may operate based on these parameters, and make thenecessary operational determinations such that equilibrium isestablished when the parameters are met.

Such a situation, in some embodiments, may be maintained until thevehicle employs a different operating profile, for example a demergeprofile followed by a stop profile and disembark profile.

Each of which may be implemented in any arrangement by a vehicle,including in cooperation with or under the direction of one or morecontrol systems including area controllers. The overall prioritizationof the CSHOCS may be managed by the vehicle, and/or area controllerand/or common controller in any arrangement, however in someembodiments, the hierarchy of executive control and authority may bedetermined by a common controller.

Parameters for each vehicle (and/or set of vehicles) may be varied by acontrol system, such as an area controller, on a dynamic basis,including in response to another controller, for example a commoncontroller based on scheduling or other requirements and/or another areacontroller to which or from which vehicles may be arriving or dispatchedto.

Vehicle operations may be aligned with operating profiles of eachvehicle as specified by one or more control systems, for example avehicle journey may comprise a set of profiles to be executed by thevehicle in sequence. The parameters provided by the vehicle by be variedas needed, for example an area controller providing new parameters foreach vehicle to operate within.

Each vehicle operates autonomously, such that even in the event of acomplete communications failure the vehicle can navigate and positionitself with sufficient accuracy to avoid other vehicles and roadwayboundaries, and as far as practical complete the original journey.

Each of the control systems may also utilize cooperative operationaltechniques for the efficient management of one or more vehicles in anyarrangement, for example through shoaling or other vehicle aggregationsfor example on a trunk and/or through arrangement of vehicles inboarding zones.

Area controllers and/or other authorized control systems may deploy“phantom” vehicles into a traffic flow, which may be presented to thephysical vehicles making up that flow, as other vehicles to be includedin the physical vehicles virtual sensor inputs. In this manner vehiclesthat are anticipated to join a traffic flow may be allocated logical orgeo blocks, and consequently the physical vehicles comprising thattraffic flow may adjust their positions or other operating parametersaccordingly, for example by varying the vehicle to vehicle distance (R).

Area controllers and/or other authorized control systems may deployadditional operating strategies and parameters to operating strategiesto vehicles in advance or in response to one or more situationalconditions. The area controller may configure and send an informationset to vehicles on the roadway for uncommon occurrences and/orconditions. For example, if ice on a roadway was an infrequentoccurrence, the area controller may send an information set to vehicleson the roadway indicating the road condition where, for example, vehicleto vehicle distance may be increased and overall systems speed andcapacity may be reduced based on the road condition. In other examples,operational parameters (e.g., vehicle to vehicle distance and overallsystem speed/capacity) may be adjusted, upon receipt of a weatherforecast and/or in response to at least one vehicle encountering,through sensors (either on the vehicle or incorporated in theinfrastructure), the presence of a specific condition (e.g., roadwaycondition) or occurrence.

The range of operations that a vehicle can undertake is limited, forexample steering can vary trajectory by a certain degree, braking canreduce velocity (as can energy recovery), and propulsion can increasevelocity. In combination, the parameters of these operations may be usedby an operating vehicle to modify its behavior so it operates in acooperative manner. In other embodiments, the parameters may be used tomodify the behavior of a vehicle so that it operates in ways thatoptimize safety of the passengers. These strategies may also includederived parameters, such as “jerk” the initial impact on a humanpassenger from acceleration/deceleration in a short time period (usuallymeasured in G force applied on a particular velocity vector), G Forcesas experienced by a passenger (lateral or vectors determine by thedirection of travel) and the like. These derived parameters, may in someembodiments, be set as operating variables, by for example a controlsystem, such as area controller or common controller, such that apassenger is never subjected to excessive forces, except potentially inan emergency.

An area controller may appropriate a specified value for overallOrigin/Destination route and vehicle will attempt to use either all orthe least amount of such allocated value. For example, each section ofthe journey may be specified in terms of vehicle operating profiles, andeach profile may have an associated set of values for use with thatprofile. The vehicle may create or load such a set of profiles andassociated parameters at the commencement of the journey, and operateusing them in a way which is intended to optimize one or more metrics ofthe transportation system or vehicle. In this manner, a vehicle maydynamically vary the shift form one operating profile to another inresponse to the operating context in which it finds itself. For example,in van a vehicle may change from cruise profile to demerge profile inadvance of or after the time or location indicator for such a change inresponse to one or more other vehicles entering or leaving the trafficflow of which that vehicle is a part.

In some embodiments, a vehicle may operate in cooperation with othervehicles in a “shoal”, using for example a set of information setprofiles that in aggregate represent a journey. This designation may becreated dynamically by the vehicles comprising such a shoal and/or maybe designated by an area controller. Each vehicle in a shoal may alsocollaborate with other vehicles in the shoal to accept further vehicles,through for example creating appropriate blocks for those vehicles toenter the shoal and/or by enabling vehicles whose operating profiles donor match that of the shoal to remove themselves from the vicinity ofthe shoal, for example by traversing, demerging or other maneuvers. Inthis manner, each vehicle and the shoal as a whole may benefit from theoptimization of their operations as a shoal. In some embodiments, anarea controller may not only provide the conditions for operating withinshoals, but may also operate in a way to manage and optimize sets ofshoals, for example when a set of vehicles is journeying to destinationA (for example a sporting event) and contemporaneously another set ofvehicles is journeying to destination B (for example an event at atheatre).

The AVPS, area controllers, and common controller may use deep learningtechniques to create a self-learned model for the safe, secure, reliablesystem deployment. For example, for an operating model comprising theset of variables described herein, (R, L, LD, P etc.) combined withsensor images (radar/visible/ultrasound), where layers and hidden layersmay be processed, the framework provided by the operating model maydevelop further safety enhancements, passenger comfort (e.g., reductionof “jerk”), optimizations and other desired outcomes for systemdeployments. Deep learning, and other machine learning approaches, maybe applied at the control systems of the vehicle, area controller and/orcommon controller in any arrangement, including across one or more ofthese control systems.

It will be appreciated that all of the disclosed methods and proceduresdescribed herein can be implemented using one or more computer programsor components. These components may be provided as a series of computerinstructions on any conventional computer readable medium or machinereadable medium, including volatile or non-volatile memory, such as RAM,ROM, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks, optical memory, or otherstorage media. The instructions may be provided as software or firmware,and/or may be implemented in whole or in part in hardware componentssuch as ASICs, FPGAs, DSPs or any other similar devices. Theinstructions may be configured to be executed by one or more processors,which when executing the series of computer instructions, performs orfacilitates the performance of all or part of the disclosed methods andprocedures.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to theexample embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilledin the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and withoutdiminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that suchchanges and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:
 1. A system comprising: a pluralityof at least partially autonomous vehicles, wherein each of the pluralityof at least partially autonomous vehicles is configured to cooperatewith another of the plurality of at least partially autonomous vehiclesand an area controller; one or more at least partially separatedinterconnected roadways; a management system to receive requests totransport, wherein a request has a respective start point and arespective destination; the management system configured, responsive toreceiving the request, to assign one of the autonomous vehicles tofulfill the request and inform the assigned autonomous vehicle of anassignment, wherein the assigned autonomous vehicle is configured totransport, responsive to the assignment, at least one person from therespective start point, at least in part via the one or more at leastpartially separated interconnected roadways, to the respectivedestination, wherein the plurality of at least partially autonomousvehicles are configured so a subset of the plurality of at leastpartially autonomous vehicles traveling simultaneously on a firstroadway of the partially separated interconnected roadways cooperate toallow the assigned vehicle to enter the first roadway.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more partially separated interconnectedroadways include a dedicated grade separated roadway.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein at least two nearby vehicles of the subset areconfigured to cooperate by changing, a separation between the at leasttwo nearby vehicles to allow the assigned vehicle to join the subset ofvehicles traveling at the same time along the first roadway.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the assigned autonomous vehicle is configuredto receive an information set from at least one of the management systemand another vehicle, wherein the information set includes at least oneof traffic flow, trip time, system capacity, and wait time.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein, based at least in part on the requests totransport received, the management system is further configured toadjust a quantity of vehicles on the one or more roadways.
 6. A system,comprising: a plurality of at least partially autonomous vehicles,wherein each of the plurality of at least partially autonomous vehiclesis configured to cooperate with another vehicle and an area controller,one or more at least partially separated interconnected roadways, amanagement system to receive requests to transport, wherein a requesthas a respective start point and a respective destination, themanagement system configured, responsive to receiving the request, toassign one of the autonomous vehicles to fulfill the request and informthe assigned autonomous vehicle of an assignment, wherein the assignedautonomous vehicle is configured to transport, responsive to theassignment, at least one person from the respective start point, atleast in part via the one or more at least partially separatedinterconnected roadways, to the respective destination; wherein theplurality of at least partially autonomous vehicles is configured so aset of vehicles traveling at the same time along a common sub-routecooperate as cooperating vehicles, and at least one of the cooperatingvehicles in the set operates in response to traffic flow information,received by at least one of the cooperating vehicles, while traveling onthe sub-route.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the set of vehicles,traveling at the same time along a common sub-route, are configured totravel in a shoal having reduced space separations between the vehicles.8. The system of claim 6, wherein the set of vehicles, traveling at thesame time along a common sub-route, are configured to travel in a shoal,each of vehicles in the shoal configured to adjust space separationsbetween the vehicles in the shoal to create additional space in a trunkline for another vehicle to join the trunk line.
 9. The system of claim6, wherein the set of vehicles, traveling at the same time along acommon sub-route, are configured to travel in a first shoal and a secondshoal, one or more vehicles in the first shoal are configured to adjustspace separations between vehicles in the second shoal to createadditional space in a trunk line for another vehicle to join the trunkline.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a subset of theinterconnected roadways have sufficient width to allow multiple vehiclesto travel in parallel in the same direction, and at least some of thesubset of vehicles are configured to travel in parallel at approximatelythe same cruising velocity on the subset of the interconnected roadways.11. The system of claim 1, wherein responsive to receiving the request,the management system is configured to provide to the assigned vehicleat least one approximate target route from the respective start point tothe respective destination, and wherein the assigned vehicle isconfigured to select, by default, one of the at least one approximatetarget routes and is further configured to travel along the selectedapproximate target route from the start point to the destination. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one approximate targetroute includes start, merge, cruise, demerge, and stop segments, and themanagement system is configured to provide a vehicle profile to theassigned vehicle for each of the segments.
 13. The system of claim 1,wherein the management system includes a plurality of area controllerseach having an associated geographic area of the system, a first one ofthe plurality of the area controllers is configured to sense a roadcondition and relay information corresponding to the road condition to avehicle traveling in the first area controller's respectively associatedgeographic area.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein a first areacontroller of the plurality of area controllers is configured to relayinformation corresponding to the road condition to at least one otherarea controller.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein at least two of therespective associated geographic areas overlap.
 16. The system of claim13, wherein the vehicles are configured to maintain continuous flow onthe roadways based at least in part on the information relayed from theat least one of the plurality of the area controllers.
 17. The system ofclaim 13, wherein at least some of the area controllers are configuredto provide control targets to the subset of vehicles and the assignedvehicle to coordinate the assigned vehicle into and out of an intervehicle gap in the subset of vehicles.
 18. The system of claim 1,wherein one or more of the roadways is marked with machine readableinformation associated with the roadway, the vehicles include at leastone sensor that is configured to read the information, and the vehiclesare configured to make an autonomous decision, based at least in part oninformation from the at least one sensor.
 19. The system of claim 1,wherein assigning one of the autonomous vehicles to fulfill the requestis at least partially based on minimizing a wait time of a passenger atthe start point associated with the request to transport, and whereinthe management system is configured to assign one of the autonomousvehicles to fulfill the request based at least partially on at least oneof a vehicle attribute and a passenger attribute.
 20. The system ofclaim 1, wherein a vehicle is configured to receive an approximatetarget route from the management system, and the vehicle is configuredto determine an actual route at least partially based on the approximatetarget route associated with the request to transport.
 21. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more at least partially autonomous vehiclesis configured to travel with a following distance of less than twoseconds between the vehicles, and wherein a vehicle has an interiorwidth and an exterior width, the interior width is at least as wide as awheelchair, and the exterior width is at most as wide as one half of astandard road lane.
 22. The system of claim 1, further comprising: areservation system configured to receive the requests to transport fromat least one user, and send the requests to transport to the managementsystem, wherein the requests include payload information.
 23. The systemof claim 1, wherein the one or more at least partially autonomousvehicles is configured to sense a road condition and relay informationcorresponding to the road condition to a second vehicle.
 24. A methodcomprising: receiving, by a management system, a request to transportfrom a user; assigning, by the management system, an assigned at leastpartially autonomous vehicle from a plurality of at least partiallyautonomous vehicles to fulfill the request, wherein each of theplurality of at least partially autonomous vehicles is configured tocooperate with another of the plurality of at least partially autonomousvehicles and an area controller, informing, by the management system,the assigned vehicle of an assignment; providing, by the managementsystem, an information set to the assigned vehicle related to therequest; as part of fulfilling the request and responsive to beingprovided the information set, the assigned vehicle operating on a firstone of the plurality of at least partially separated interconnectedroadways according to the information set; and as part of fulfilling therequest, a subset of the plurality of at least partially autonomousvehicles traveling simultaneously along the first roadway cooperating toallow the first vehicle to enter the first roadway.
 25. The method ofclaim 24, further comprising: at least two nearby vehicles of the subsetof vehicles cooperating with the assigned vehicle by changing aseparation between the at least two nearby vehicles in response to theinformation set received by the assigned vehicle, thereby allowing theassigned vehicle to enter the first roadway.
 26. The method of claim 24,further comprising: adjusting, by the management system, at least one ofan operating status of some of the the plurality of at least partiallyautonomous vehicles, a quantity of vehicles on the plurality ofroadways, and a quantity of passengers at a boarding zone based at leastin part on the requests to transport received; responsive to receivingthe request, providing, by the management system, at least oneapproximate target route to the assigned vehicle; and selecting bydefault, by the assigned vehicle, one of the at least one approximatetarget routes, wherein the assigned vehicle is configured to travelalong the selected approximate target route from a start point to adestination associated with the request to transport.
 27. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium storing code, which when executedby at least one processor, is configured to: receive a request totransport from a user; assign an assigned at least partially autonomousvehicle from a plurality of at least partially autonomous vehicles tofulfill the request, wherein each of the plurality of at least partiallyautonomous vehicles is configured to cooperate with another vehicle ofthe plurality of at least partially autonomous vehicles and an areacontroller; inform the assigned vehicle of an assignment; provide aninformation set to the assigned vehicle related to the request, whereinthe assigned vehicle operates, responsive to the information set and aspart of fulfilling the request, on a first one of a plurality of atleast partially separated interconnected roadways according to theinformation set; and as part of fulfilling the request, cause a subsetof the plurality of at least partially autonomous vehicles travelingsimultaneously along the first roadway to cooperate to allow the firstvehicle to enter the first roadway.
 28. The system of claim 1, whereinthe subset of vehicles include vehicles traveling to differentrespective destinations.
 29. The system of claim 1, wherein at least twonearby cooperative vehicles of the subset of vehicles are configured tocooperate with the assigned autonomous vehicle by changing vehiclevelocity to allow the assigned vehicle to join the subset of vehiclestraveling at the same time along the first roadway.